Love from the Past
by Utsukushii Kohana
Summary: Since the love of her life had left her, she was afraid to fall in love again. But now a new man walks in her life. Will she open herself up to him and fall in love once more? TaichixMimixYamato
1. Prologue I

**Love From The Past **

**Prologue I**

* * *

Since the love of her life had left her, she was afraid to fall in love again. Thus, she shielded herself from the concept. But now, a new man walks in her life. Will she open herself up to him and fall in love once more? AU/Romance 

**A/N: **This is my very first story, and I hope it's worth your while!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything.

* * *

Another lonely Saturday. The winter was almost over. It was one of the coldest winters in Kyoto. And one of the longest too. It was March and still it was cold, even with the sun in the sky. Luckily it didn't snow anymore. Almost everyone stayed inside, cosy near the fireplace with hot chocolate in the palm of their hands. Families or lovers together under a big blanket talking or watching television. But not her. Even with the cold, she walked in the park. Alone. 

She looked up to the sky. The sun, who appeared a few times when the clouds didn't cover it, shone on her pretty features. She closed her honey-coloured eyes. Making a tiny fog in front of her, when she breathed deep out.

She was heading over to the large willow. Once she got there, she took a seat against the tree. It was an old willow with a very thick bole. The abound of branches whirled around because of the small winter breeze. They bended down and formed a curtain for the upper half of the willow. The tree was a good hiding place if it rained. Especially in spring or summer, if the branches had leaves.

She pulled her bag off and searched for her sketchbook. Every weekend she came to sit underneath the tree. It was her favourite free time because the tree gave her a calm sense. The willow also had a magnificent view. Absolutely perfect for her sketches. You could see the little children play, you could see the beautiful nature and you could see every couple on a bench.

That last part hurt her. It ached every time she saw a couple get lovey-dovey with each other. Because it reminded her of her own loved one, who was gone now.

Well, that was the main reason why she came to this tree. The tree was special to her, it was _their_ tree.

A sigh escaped her lips, she had to get over him sometime. Desperately, she tried to move on, because she wanted to, but she knew deep down that she couldn't forget him. Being a large part of her life, he was and would always be special to her. When he had left, she always thought he would come back someday. Every day, she waited and waited and waited, right here, underneath the tree. But he never showed up. After a whole year she gave up. However, without admitting it, she still had hopes that he would return.

Suddenly, a blond man came up to her. While fixing his blue azure eyes on her honey-coloured ones, he planted himself down next to her right. They were both quiet, which she found odd but she remained sketching the few playing children. Then, he broke the silence.

"You can draw pretty good. Did you go to an academy?"

Instead of saying anything in return, she just simply shook her head.

Her not replying to him, made him frown. He was used to women fawning all over him. His friends told him that this one was hard to get, he thought they were exaggerating, but now he found out for himself that they were telling the truth. It was sad though, such beauty couldn't be so bitter. Knowing when he wasn't wanted, he decided to leave so he stood up and strolled away. Very fast, he walked away from her, but he didn't see the branch on the ground which he stepped on and itmade his right leg go way up in the air and he fell on his back.

Immediately, she ran up to him. "Are you okay?"

On the same moment he moaned cause of the pain, she glided on her knees next to him. By taking his arm and swinging it over her shoulders, she pulled him up. However she did stagger a bit because of the weight she had to bear. Not that he was heavy, she just wasn't a strong person. She dragged him over to the tree, where she softly set him down and sat next to him.

"Do I need to get help?" she asked him.

He shook his head.

Extending his right hand out to her, he introduced himself. "My name is Ishida Yamato. What's yours?"

She looked at his hand. Then into his eyes. His eyes were so full of emotion, so intense, which made her so attracted to them and drown in. It was like an unspoilt ocean who needed someone to swim in them. She hadn't felt this kind of attraction in a long time, but she kind of liked it.

She shook his hand and replied. "Tachikawa Mimi."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Mimi."

She smiled a bit, but the smile quickly faded. Then, she presumed to her sketching again, while he took his mouth harmonica and started to play a sad tune.

For taking a look at him, she turned her head. She had to admit that he was handsome. Not saying anything, they sat there, her sketching and him making music. Normally, she pushed all the other guys away who tried to get near her, but for some reason she didn't mind this time. He stopped playing on his harmonica and glanced at the tree. There were initials carved in the bole of the willow.

"TY loves MT. I think it's stupid when people violate nature. Certainly for something like that. Don't you think so?" he inquired.

With her fingertips, she caressed the initials while looking at them. The initials stood for her and her old love. When she remembered him carving it, she smiled a bit.

* * *

**Flashback**

They played tag in the park. Even though they were sixteen, they played children games. People thought they were childish and yet cute at the same time. But they didn't care what other people thought, they did what they felt like doing.

"You're it."

Mimi tagged him and immediately ran away over the bridge, which was over a pond. With her mid-long, slight curly, caramel locks framing her pretty face. Her summer dress came just under knees. It had flower patrons and buttons over the entire length. The dress flew in wrinkles around her legs. Plus, she wore simple attires, just a golden necklace and pearl earrings. It made her look so elegant, as a Goddess to him. She was utterly perfect.

He on the other hand, was simple dressed, not classy simple as her, just wearing a navy blue T-shirt and baggy Capri's. While he looked at her, he smirked. How on Earth did he convince her to be his girlfriend?

She yelled while cupping her mouth with her delicate hands. "You can't catch me! Haha, in your face, Yagami!"

He rolled his eyes. Maybe _that_ was why she wanted to go out with him, her being just as adventurous as him, both one of a kind and yet so different. Everyone was surprised that they fell in love with each other. Even their own friends.

Shaking his thoughts out of his head, he ran after her. When she saw him approaching, she stopped laughing and ran herself. However, he caught her in a nick of time, well, he was captain of the soccer team, and twirled her around. He put her down but he still held her in his strong arms and his tanned face was a couple of inches away from her pale face.

"So, I can't catch you!"

When she playfully slapped his shoulder, he had a goofy grin on his face. Then, she put her hands on her hips, put her nose in the air and spoke. "Taichi Yagami, you're cheating!"

"I am not!" he remanded.

"Yes, you are. You run faster than me because you're a guy and because you play soccer. I don't want to play this game with you anymore."

With her arms crossed in front of her chest, she marched away. A sigh escaped his lips when Taichi looked at her retreating figure. That was another thing they had in common, _stubbornness_. It was annoying him but it made her attractive, it was part of her charm. He ran up to her again but tackled her this time. They fell to the ground, him laying on top of her.

"Yagami Taichi, get off me right now," she ordered.

"As you command, milady."

As she ordered him to, he got off her and extended his hand to help her get up her feet. As a lady should, she accepted his help. They dusted themselves off and wandered through to park hand in hand. Suddenly, Mimi pointed at an old willow in the centre of the park.

"What a beautiful tree," she commented.

Taichi raised his eyebrow at her. Sometimes she had a weird taste in things. But it gave him an idea though. "Come on."

He dragged her over the tree, where he took out his pocket knife and started carving their initials in the willow. Once he was done, he was proud of himself. With her hand covering her mouth, Mimi giggled.

"It's beautiful, Taichi, I love it."

Ever since Taichi carved their initials, the tree became their rendezvous point. It became _their _tree and it will always be their tree.

**End flashback**

* * *

"Is something wrong, Mimi?" 

Mimi came out of her trance and swore mentally. She did this every time. So fixed on the past that she forgot everything around her. People thought she was weird, but she knew that and frankly, she didn't care. She had only a few good friends who understood her and who knew what she went through. All by all, she found it sweet that Yamato was concerned, so she smiled genuinely at him.

"Everything's fine."

Suspiciously, Yamato eyed her. He didn't believe her, but he decided to let it go. "So?"

Mimi stared at him funny and questioned. "So what?"

Softly, Yamato shook his head. Did she had amnesia or something? He asked her a question, then she daydreams about God knows what and now she was oblivious to it all.

"What do you think about violating a tree like that?"

Mimi blushed, she sure was a forgetful person. Making a mental note to do something about that, she answered. "I think it's romantic when a guy does that for a gal."

Then, there was an eerie silence and Yamato wanted to break it. After all this time, he finally got the courage today to talk to her. Hence, now was the time to get to know this woman.

"So, what do you do for living?"

Sensing that a long conversation would come, she stopped drawing and put her sketchbook away in her bag. Then, she pulled her knees under her chin and put her arms around her legs.

"I'm a chef at a restaurant called Apisius. What do you do?"

Proudly, Yamato lifted his chin up and said. "I'm the lead singer of the Wolves."

"Oh right, that's why you were familiar."

As respond Yamato nodded and brightened up. He always loved it when people knew his band. They weren't that popular, but the fame started to grow. It would be over a couple of years that they would be one of the greatest bands in Japan. Well, their manager claimed so.

"You know, I went to one of your concerts. I was a pretty big fan and I won duo tickets on a radio contest. I dragged my boyfriend with me although he didn't want to go. But he went just to please me. He always did stuff against his will just for me."

When she noticed that Yamato made a weird face, Mimi stopped babbling. Mentally, she smacked her head. Again and again, she had to mention Taichi, she _always_ talked about him, even to all her friends. She hated herself for it and apologized. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about an old love."

"It's okay."

Out of nervousness, she licked her lips and bit her lower lip. It became silent _again_. He coughed once. "So, why are you always sitting alone here?"

She raised her eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Slightly, Yamato's mouth opened. The question popped in his head and without thinking, he just asked it. She wasn't pleased, it was written al over her face. How was he going to save himself from that?

"I'm sorry. I know it's none of my business but I…"

He was interrupted by Mimi, who suddenly stood up and screamed furiously. "You're damn right, it's none of your business!"

Loudly, she stomped her feet when she marched away. By shouting her name, he attempted to stop her, but it had no avail.

He grunted and ran a hand through his messy blond hair, he couldn't believe what just happened. Finally, he got to talk to the woman and he already messed up. He wasn't going to leave it like that, he had to apologize to her. From day one that he saw her, he knew that she had stolen his heart.

And now he wanted hers.

* * *


	2. Chapter One

**Love From The Past**

**Chapter One**

**

* * *

**She knew she had made the right choice, it was time for a _new beginning. _AU/Romance 

**A/N**: I know, I know, the prologue was no good. But I'm trying hard to improve this story. Oh, I don't own digimon or its characters obviously, otherwise I would be a rich woman.

* * *

Ring … ring … ring … 

She quickly picked up her cell.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey Meems, it's me!"

She recognized the voice immediately. The voice was hyper, energetic and loud. It could only be one person, her best friend, namely Miyako Inoue.

"Miyako, how are you doing?"

"Good, I'm calling to check if you're going to meet the gang later. In an hour at the Ice Palace."

Mimi's eyes widened. She had totally forgotten. She was glad that Miyako called to make her remember. She smiled at the thought. Miyako was a great friend. She always cheered Mimi up, no matter what. They were there for each other, through good and bad. They were like a married couple. They had known each other since high school. Actually, most of her friends. Even though, Miyako was a year younger than her, they were inseparable, always have and always will.

After a short pause, Mimi answered. "Right, we were going to celebrate Hikari's new job."

"Exactly, … Meems, did you forget again?"

"No, no- … of course not," Mimi replied in a embarrassed tone.

"Okay, see you in two hours. Bye."

"Bye, Miyako."

Click. She hung up and put her cell on the table again. She looked at the floor and swore. Her carpet was wet. That's what happens if you're in the shower and someone calls you. She ran so fast that she forgot to put her wet hair in a towel. She went to the bathroom again to dry herself off. She had an hour to get ready. She would clean her carpet when she got back (Miyako was right, she was _lazy)_. When she was dry, she walked over to her bedroom to pick out her clothes. She choose baggy pants in beige and a blue sweater. Of course, a scarf, a hat and mittens too, because of the cold weather. She grabbed her purse and went out the door to see her friends.

Mimi lived nearby the Ice Palace, lucky for her. So, she decided to walk. She looked around her while she walked. There weren't many people on the streets. Most of them were inside or on a vacation. She was quickly at the Ice Palace and pushed the glass door open. She took a seat at a booth next to the window.

A black haired waitress with dark green streaks came up to her. Her name was Sayuri, she could tell by the name tag. "Can I take your order?"

Mimi came here most of the time when she wanted to meet her friends over the afternoon. So, she knew what ice cream flavours they had. She always doubted between chocolate chip or cookie dough. This time, she went for cookie dough.

After the waitress left, she waited for her friends. She impatiently tapped her fingers over the table. The moment she saw a flash of purple hair coming through the door, she grimaced and called out. "Miyako, over here!"

Miyako turned her head around to search the location where the sound had came from. She smiled and walked up to Mimi with open arms. Mimi stood up and hugged her friend. They sat down across each other.

"When are the others coming?" Mimi asked.

Miyako confirmed. "Later."

Mimi nodded.

"Did you make new drawings yesterday in the park?" Miyako asked.

"Yes, but barely."

Miyako quirked an eyebrow. "Care to tell more?"

"As usual, I sat beneath the willow and I was sketching till some blonde guy came over, trying to pick me up. I ignored him and he left but fell over a branch or something. So, I helped him and talked to him but then he asked a rude question and I walked away."

"Meems, sorry for asking, but when are you going to search for a guy? I mean-…," Miyako sighed. "You can't keep wasting your time sulking over Taichi. You have to get your life back on track."

Mimi blanched and clenched her jaws together. She started rubbing her hands together and gazed at the table. She had tears in her eyes.

Miyako felt sorry for bringing up the subject. She knew better than that. But she couldn't help it, everything that came in her mind, came out of her mouth. She opened her mouth to apologize but Mimi cut in.

"You're right. It's been two to three years," she rolled her tongue over her front teeth. "But it's not that simple, you know."

Miyako took Mimi's hands in hers. "I know, sweetie. You still got us to help you."

Mimi smiled.

"You know what? You and I are going on man hunting… Well you are, I'm just going to accompany you. I don't need another man than Ken." Miyako continued and grimaced.

Mimi looked at Miyako. Miyako's eyes were shimmering with happiness. That happened every time the energetic girl talked about Ichijouji Ken. They had been together for four years, and they lived together for about one year. Mimi heard from Daisuke that Ken was planning to pop the big question any time soon. She was excited but couldn't help feeling envy towards her purple friend. She always thought that Taichi would have asked her to marry him but he never did. He had _abandoned_ her instead.

* * *

**Flashback**

"I'm serious Mimi, I think today is the day for you."

Mimi frowned. "I don't think so. Taichi is not the kind of guy to get married."

Mimi heard a sigh on the other end of the line. She pictured the girl rolling her eyes at the very same moment. Then she spoke again, a little annoyed.

"Meems, trust me, I know him. He loves you very much, sometimes I think even more then me. He wants to appears tough, so he lets everyone think he's not the settling down guy, but when in fact he really is. Besides, I heard him practicing a speech '_oh Mimi, I love you with all my heart and I think it's time for us…_'."

"Time for what?" Mimi asked intrigued.

A short pause.

"I didn't hear the rest. Sorry."

"Hikari!"

"Sorry, he discovered I was eavesdropping. Anyway, he's coming over to you. So, if he asks the question, act surprised. I gotta go, Miyako and I are going to the movies. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Mimi plopped herself down on the couch and watched some fluffy romantic movie. She thought about Hikari's words. Would he ask her? She shook her head. She was being silly, like she said to her younger friend, he was not the marrying type. They didn't even live together. Well, _almost_ since they came to each others place all the time. So, in another way, she almost lived together with Hikari since she and her brother shared an apartment. Anyway, Hikari was wrong and she was right. But there was always a _possibility_. They were together since high school. She even beat Sora in the progress to win Taichi's heart.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and broke her thoughts. Mimi hurried towards the door. She looked through the peephole and saw her handsome boyfriend standing there with a bouquet in his hand. Maybe, he was going to pop the question! She quickly dusted herself off and combed her hair with her hands. She took a deep breath. She unlocked the door, swung it open and embraced Taichi _very_ tightly.

Taichi's face reddened from the lack of oxygen. "I … I can't … breath."

"Sorry," Mimi immediately let loose. She bit her bottom lip from embarrassment. She stepped aside to let him in and locked the door again. He gave her the flowers and said with charm. "Pretty flowers for my pretty girl."

She rolled her eyes and playfully hit his shoulders. "You're being silly, but thank you. I'm going to put them in my most beautiful vase."

Taichi went to sit on the couch. Mimi went to the kitchen instead to give the flowers water so they wouldn't wither.

"How about some popcorn?" Mimi offered.

Taichi responded. "Sure."

She sat next to Taichi when the popcorn was ready. He put his arm around her shoulders and with his other hand, he stuffed popcorn in his mouth. Mimi quirked her eyebrow at him, sometimes he was such a slob, especially during eating.

He noticed her weird face. "Is there something the matter?"

She giggled and laid her head on his chest. "No. Nothing at all."

"Can I ask you something?"

Mimi perked up. Maybe, this was the moment. Maybe, he was going to ask her now. She started to sweat a little because she was getting nervous. Every kind of question was haunting in her head. Was he going to ask her? If he did, would it be romantic? What would she say? Is she ready for this? … Her head was spinning, she had to calm herself down.

"Sure, ask ahead," she bit her bottom lip. This was the moment, this was what she was waiting for.

"Well, next weekend there's a family gathering and I was wondering if,… if you would like to come with me?"

Mimi blanched. She was getting all worked up for nothing. He just wanted to ask her if she would like to come with him to a party! She mentally smacked herself. Stupid, she was being stupid.

"Honey, is there something wrong? Was it a idiotic question, because I love you so much and I want to introduce you to my whole family and I- …"

Mimi put her hand in front of Taichi's mouth. "I would love to join you."

Taichi was in heaven and he hugged his girlfriend. She, on the other hand, was slightly disappointed. She really had her hopes up. But, she was happy that she meant a lot to him. Perhaps, he was waiting to ask her.

**End flashback**

**

* * *

**

A sigh escaped Mimi's lips. That didn't go unnoticed by Miyako. Just when Miyako was about to ask Mimi what was troubling her, a new voice intervened.

"Hey, two of my favourite girls! What's up you guys- ... euhm I mean girls?"

"Nothing much," was the reply from Miyako.

Mimi smiled at the newcomer. She slid a bit to the left and patted at the place next to her. "Come sit next to me, Daisuke."

Daisuke eagerly sat next to the caramel-haired beauty. He grabbed the menu and gazed his brown orbs over the different flavours. He started licking his lips with thoughts about the tastes of the ice cream. Miyako shook her head slightly at the sight. Sometimes, or to be exact all the time, Daisuke was like a five-year-old trapped in a body of a twenty-three-year-old. It was part of his charm though. A childish, but kind of cute charm. She never fell for it, but Hikari did _sort of_. She couldn't blame her. The boy did resemble a lot to her brother. That's why Hikari and Daisuke could hang around each other with ease. Daisuke loved Hikari very much, however she never returned those feelings, only in a friendly way. Hikari was crazy about Takeru, it was obvious to everybody, except Takeru _himself_. Daisuke accepted his defeat and became very good friends with the young brunette and the blonde. That was a part of his charm as well, he would never let his friends down. Suddenly, a voice interrupted Miyako's thoughts.

"Here you go, a cookie dough. That would be three dollar ninety-nine," the waitress put the ice cream in front of Mimi. Mimi paid her and scooped a bit to eat. The waitress eyed Miyako and Daisuke and asked. "Do you want to order something?"

Miyako shook her head. Daisuke looked up from the menu and drooled when he saw Sayuri. The girl gloated with disgust and wrinkled her nose. "Maybe I'll come back later."

Daisuke flushed crimson. He banged his head on the table. Miyako screamed with laughter while Mimi put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. Here, let's share my ice cream."

Daisuke said his thanks to Mimi but glowered at Miyako.

Suddenly, Hikari stepped in the Ice Palace and Mimi waved at her and motioned to come sit down with them. Hikari walked up to the threesome and sat next to Miyako, who was still giggling and opposite to Daisuke, who was mad at Miyako. Hikari raised her eyebrow and gave a questioning look at Mimi. Mimi shook her head to dismiss the topic. Hikari rolled her eyes, she could imagine something between Miyako and Daisuke because she saw how Daisuke's left eye was twitching and Miyako holding her sides cause of the laughter. So, she wanted to avoid to ask what happened and told something entirely different.

"Takeru is coming any second. His brother is in town since two weeks and he's tagging him along, so we could all meet his notorious big brother."

Miyako finally stopped laughing and winked. "I just hope his brother is as cute as Takeru."

Daisuke rolled his eyes while Mimi scraped her throat. "I thought you were dating Ken, or was it a long dream I had?"

"Well, yeah, but- … but a girl can still keep her options open just in case," muttered Miyako.

"Whatever you say," Daisuke sneered. "So Hikari, congratulations on your new job!"

The other two said there congrats as well.

Hikari blushed. "Thanks," then she pointed towards the door. "Takeru is here."

She jumped up from her seat and ran in Takeru's arms. They hugged briefly and everyone else awed at the adorable sight. Hikari stuck her tongue out as response.

Miyako waited anxiously. "Takeru, where's your brother?"

Takeru opened his mouth to answer but another strong, manly voice beat him to it. "I'm Takeru's brother, Ishida Yamato. Nice to meet you all."

Mimi's eyes widened and her face went pale. She couldn't believe her eyes. "_You_- … What are you doing here!"

She gaped at the guy. It was the guy from the other day, who tried to pick her up in the park. The one she ditched and rejected after he rudely asked about her personal life! He couldn't be Takeru's big brother! Takeru was sweet and caring, that guy was rude and persistent.

Yamato grinned. "What a pleasant surprise! Mimi, was it?"

Mimi growled but he didn't give notice and continued. "I didn't know you were one of Takeru's friends. My brother always has much more luck then me."

Everyone else looked astonished. In name of everyone, Takeru questioned. "Did we miss anything here? How do you two know each other?"

"We met at the park yesterday and had a little chit-chat," revealed Yamato.

Mimi stared angrily at Yamato and corrected. "No, he tried to pick me up and I rejected him, what I'm going to do _again now_. Sorry guys, but I'm going home."

She grabbed her coat and ran out the door. The others tried to stop her by calling her name but it was no use. She didn't care, she just wanted to leave. She didn't need that. She had enough problems on her mind. She knew she shouldn't ditch her friends like that, but she felt like she had no choice, she couldn't be in the same room with _him_.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, the same hand spun her around, so she could face the person whom the hand belonged to.

"You! I thought I made it perfectly clear I didn't want anything to do with you," Mimi snapped.

"Look, aren't you being childish? I know, I shouldn't have asked that but I mean- … You are overreacting! You are very touchy."

"What!"

"You are overreacting," Yamato repeated. "I just want to get to know you, that's all."

Mimi ran a hand through her hair. He was right, she was acting like a total bitch. She couldn't help it, everything about her past with Taichi was sacred. She pressed her lips in a thin line and shrugged.

"You don't have to go back, but I think you should consider your friends despite the fact that I'm there," Yamato commented.

Mimi nodded.

They went back and every one else cheered. They were happy that Mimi changed her mind. Miyako noticed the way Yamato was gazing at her friend. She would tell Hikari later, maybe they could pair them up. She always encouraged Mimi to move on, so why not with Takeru's brother? What was the harm in that? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Miyako applauded herself in her mind for her brilliant thinking.

They all sat together at the booth and celebrated Hikari on her new job. Mimi was so joyous for the girl. Hikari always wanted to be a teacher, and now, she is a kindergarten teacher in Odaiba, their hometown. Although, it meant that Hikari had to move back to Odaiba, she was still delighted. Besides, Odaiba was just an hour away from Kyoto, so that wasn't a big problem. They could all visit her once in a while, like they did with Daisuke now.

They were all deep in conversation with one other. Yamato was talking to Hikari and Miyako, she was talking to Takeru and Daisuke was eating the rest of her cookie dough. All of the sudden, she heard Hikari mentioning Taichi's name.

"What about Taichi?" Mimi asked with concern.

Everyone but Yamato looked like someone had died. Mimi quirked an eyebrow and laughed it off. "Come on, you can tell me."

Hikari cleared her throat. "Well, he became the manager of this mighty corporation in Tokyo and is earning lots of money."

Mimi tucked a chunk of her hair behind her ear and clapped her hands together. "I'm happy for him."

"Meems, are you going to be okay? I shouldn't have mentioned him, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Hikari," Mimi reassured.

Miyako looked at her watch. "Oh my gosh, it's already seven o'clock. Time does fly. Ken is waiting for me. Bye, you guys. Again Hikari, congratulations," she gave everyone a kiss on the cheek and left.

Daisuke stood up as well. "I gotta take the train back to Amagasaki," he said his goodbyes and left as well.

Mimi, Yamato, Hikari and Takeru decided to leave since it was late. Because it was still Winter, it was already dark outside. They stood outside the Ice Palace.

"It was fun, see you later," Mimi turned to go home but Yamato stopped her.

"Wait, I'm not letting you go alone in the dark. Come, I'll walk you home."

"You don't have to bother, I'm perfectly able to walk by myself."

"No, as a gentleman I should."

"Oh, as a gentleman! I thought they extinguished a long time ago."

"Well, I am the only one left."

"You're really full of yourself, you knew that?"

"Lovebirds, we're going, so we see you two another time," Takeru teased. He strolled away with Hikari who laughed at the two.

Yamato scratched the back of his head. "Well, that was embarrassing."

"Tell me about it. Well, I guess you can walk me home now."

"Oh, now I'm good enough to walk with you. Sorry, you can find another sucker."

"What! Was all that crap about being a gentlemen a _lie_?"

"Oh, I thought they extinguished. A wise but _stubborn_ woman told me so."

"Jerk."

"Now, you can definitely find another sucker."

Yamato started walking away but Mimi grabbed his arm and pleaded. "Come on, gentleman. Don't act like a baby."

Yamato smiled with triumph. "Fine, just because it's a mans job to make sure a woman gets home safely."

They walked in silence until Mimi broke it. "So, are you here in Kyoto for a concert or something?"

"No, I have a break for about a month, so I decided to visit my little brother. I love my job and singing, but it's always a relieve when I have a vacation. It's hard work being a musician even tough we're not that popular. But, we're going to make it to the top, mark my words. I've always dreamt of being number one. And I know that some day, I will be number one on the pop charts."

"I believe you. You do make good music."

"Thanks… Did you chase your dream?"

"Actually, I already made my dream come true."

"May I ask what that is?"

Mimi rolled her eyes, all that courtesy and answered. "I always dreamt of being a head chef at a fancy restaurant and I became a head chef at one of the most expensive restaurants in Kyoto or more precise Japan."

"I'm glad for you."

"But that's one dream," she whispered.

"What's the other then?"

"Huh?"

"Well I figured you have other dreams as well since you murmured 'that's one dream'. Blondes aren't stupid, that's a stereotype."

"Sorry, I thought you didn't hear that- …"

"No, I wasn't supposed to hear that."

"Right. My other dream is something everybody wants, to get married with the guy you love and have lots of kids."

"And the guy being Taichi."

"What!"

Yamato shook his head, she really thought he was stupid. He spoke anyway. "I saw the look on your face when Hikari talked about him. Is he your ex or something?"

"Yes. He abandoned me three years ago," Mimi admitted.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Its not your fault," Mimi stopped in her tracks. "Here's my place. Thanks for the walk."

Yamato bowed. "It was my pleasure to escort you, miss Tachikawa."

"Goodbye then."

"Do-you-want-to-go-out-with-me-tommorow?" Yamato stammered out.

"Did I hear you right? Did you just asked me on a date?"

"Yeah, so…"

"I don't know."

Yamato looked hurt, she felt bad but she didn't know if she was ready for this. She pondered for a moment. Should she? She wanted to, but a voice in her head said _'Don't go, what if he breaks your heart just as Taichi did?'_ and another voice said _'Go, you have to date sometime, why not him, he's drop dead gorgeous!'_. She finally made up her mind.

She shrugged. "What the heck? I love to go out with you."

Yamato's face lit up. "Okay, I'll pick you up at seven. Bye."

Mimi waved goodbye. She went inside her apartment building. Once she was in her apartment, she sighed deeply. She knew she had made the right choice, it was time for a _new beginning._

* * *


	3. Chapter Two

**Love From The Past**

**Chapter Two**

* * *

"It's all right now, he's never going to bother you again, because I'll protect you. I'll always be there for you." AU/Romance 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except for the plot, of course.

* * *

Hikari and Miyako looked at their friend with questioning faces. They couldn't fathom Mimi; first, she hated Yamato and now, she kept babbling on about him. She was in fact a peculiar woman. 

"I thought he was kidding, but he really is a gentleman. And gorgeous on top too, those azure eyes… oh my god, I keep on drowning in them and that hair, long gold blond that waves in the wind. And don't get me started on that body of his, one word … wow! I haven't seen him _entirely_ but I bet he has a muscular, sexy body. But not only his looks are amazing, oh no, he's nice, considerate,-…"

Hikari stopped Mimi's rattling by putting her hand over her mouth. "Meems, I love you, but right now, you're annoying the hell out of me."

"And me," Miyako added.

"So, are you going to stop talking about Yamato?" Hikari removed her hand and stared at Mimi who flushed a deep scarlet and nodded.

Hikari and Miyako were relieved. She didn't have to be so irritating. All by all, they were glad the girl finally had interest in a guy since Taichi. Their encouragements and pushes had paid off at last. They had worked so hard to make Mimi fall in love again, and recently, they feared that the girl had given up, but the meeting with Takeru's brother had been a bulls-eye. They had no clue what Yamato had done yesterday when they weren't around, but he had done an amazing job. Now, they hoped Yamato felt the same thing. He had to, otherwise he wouldn't have asked her on a date.

"Hikari, all your make-up is packed. What should I pack now?" Mimi asked.

"My little library."

"_Little_ library! You have, like three hundred books."

"That's not much, I know someone who has more than seven hundred books."

"No way!"

"Yeah, he hasn't read them all, of course."

"Let me guess, it's probably Koushirou."

"How can you guess that? It's true but how did you know that?"

Mimi replied smugly. "My spidey-senses told me."

"Okay _spider-girl_, go pack my stuff. The guys are going to be here any second to load the truck."

Miyako shrilled. "No!" they heard something break where Miyako was and immediately ran into the kitchen where Miyako was packing Hikari's stuff. They saw Miyako crouching on the floor, collecting all the shattered pieces of one of the plates so Hikari and Mimi rushed to help. The moment Miyako saw Hikari, she began to apologize. "I'm so sorry, it slipped out of my hand. I am really, really, really, really,-…"

Hikari hushed. "It's nothing."

"Really sorry," finished Miyako.

Mimi rolled her eyes at the two. "Come on, we still got work to do here."

Hikari straightened. "Yes, we do. You know, it's going to be awkward to move to Odaiba again. I may have grown up there but I got comforted to all this and now I have to leave it behind. And that's not the worst part, I detest it that I have to leave my best friends behind and that I can't see you guys all the time anymore. No more nightly visits, no more eating at Apisius almost every night, no more going to the movie whenever I feel like it, no more-…"

Hikari couldn't go on any further, she couldn't hold the tears back no more. Mimi and Miyako also cried and the three had a group hug. They needed a tiny break from the packing to get a hold of themselves. They all sat in the _remaining_ living room and dug in the past to reminisce the good old days.

"Do you remember when we went to a bar and Miyako got so drunk that she spilled al her beer over a guy who was a hottie by the way?" Hikari questioned still sobbing a bit.

"I don't recall that moment but that wasn't so bad. I have done worse things than that."

"I do, but the worse part was that you tried to clean his god awful shirt by licking the beer," Mimi taunted.

"What! There's no way I would have done that!"

"You don't know what you are capable off in a drunken state," Hikari philosophised.

"You're the one to speak, Kar. I do remember that one time, you jumped in a fountain butt naked," Miyako countered.

"I was not alone."

Mimi blinked. "Who was the other person?"

Miyako and Hikari glanced at each other. Miyako's hand was raised by Hikari, so the purple-haired girl was forced to confess. "I was the other person."

"You! God, all the things you do when you are drunk."

"Hey, watch your tongue. At least I have a great time when I'm drunk."

"Mimi too, my brother told me that you took off your shirt in a disco bar and he had to drag you out of the place."

Mimi looked down while the other two laughed. She recalled that evening. Taichi was her knight in shining armour once again. If she had count all the times Taichi had rescued her, then she would have crossed twenty times. But she guessed he didn't tell the _real_ story to Hikari and she was glad for it. She had never felt that humiliated and disgusted with herself in her whole life.

* * *

**Flashback**

"Woohoo, at last, no more high school!" Mimi exclaimed.

Taichi smiled at his girlfriend. Even though he graduated a year ago, he still knew how it felt. No more teachers, no more being bullied around, no more school desks. High school was a prison, which they were both released from as of today.

"I take it you're happy about it."

"Of course, let's celebrate, let's do _something,_" Mimi cheered.

"Why don't you pick? It's your graduation."

"Why don't we go to that disco bar over there?"

She pointed at the disco bar across the street. Following her finger, he frowned when he saw which one she meant. They couldn't go in there. It was sleazy, dirty, unhygienic and… not for them. All those people had tattoos all over there body, pierced everywhere and smoked like chimneys. He bet some of those weren't cigarettes they had between their lips. He would do anything for his girl, but not _this._ He was older than her, although it was just a year difference, he had to be more mature and reasonable.

"Mi, I don't think that's a good idea. Why don't we go-…?"

"Do you know another café around here?"

"No but-…"

"So, my feet are already killing me and I want to dance. Please, pretty please?" she pouted and made puppy dog eyes. Taichi couldn't resist _that_ look and caved in eventually.

"Fine. Whatever my baby wants."

Mimi giggled and pulled him with her while holding his hand. She practically jumped up and down. Sceptically, he raised an eyebrow. He knew she was vivid and perky but tonight she was _free _and showed it.

They went inside easily because their was no asking for ID. Taichi thought that was weird enough. Scanning the place with his chocolate brown eyes, he noticed that almost every girl had little clothing on, men were touching them _everywhere_, most were drunk, male and female. He didn't like this place one bit, sometimes Mimi was so naïve.

"Taichi, I love this song. Let's dance."

"I don't feel like dancing why don't we go get a drink?"

"I want to dance-…," she looked at Taichi and knew he was determined not to dance. "Fine, then I'll dance alone."

"I think we should stay together."

Mimi made a questioning face. "Why? Don't you think I can handle myself? I'm a big girl. I see you at the bar later."

"Just be careful!" he cautioned but she was already gone in the crowd. He had to loosen up, she was right, she was a big girl. Since they weren't asking for ID, he ordered himself a beer at the bar.

Moving her hips and legs to the beat so gracefully, made every man on the dance floor ogle at Mimi. With her eyes closed, she didn't notice until some man whispered in her ear. "Aren't you a beauty?"

Slowly, she opened her eyes to look over her shoulder and saw a man of at least his late twenty's, early thirty's. He was built on the rough side and hadn't shaved for a long time. Before she could reply to the question, which she didn't know how at the moment, he continued. "Why is a beauty like you dancing all by herself? Something doesn't fit this picture, don't you think so?"

Mimi stammered out. "I- … I guess so but-…," she was going to the part that her _boyfriend_ was having a drink but he intertwined his fingers with hers and swung her around. Guess she didn't have much choice than to obey and dance with him, which he did amazingly good. Too bad she had to go to the bathroom urgently. She excused herself but he followed her into the bathroom. She had no problem with it, that was until he came closer and rubbed his hands on her everywhere. Over and over again, she screamed stop but there was no stopping to this guy. She attempted to struggle out of his grip but he had a strong firm over her. Even trying to yell for help, but nobody could hear her over the loud music and nobody else was at the sleazy bathroom at that time. He pinned her down on the floor, shred her blouse open and pushed her legs open. She could taste her salty tears in her mouth and heard him whisper on just an audible tone. "Now, let's have the time of our lives. Shall we?"

Fortunately for her, Taichi saw him following her and went after her. He grabbed the man's shoulders and throw him of her. Giving him several punches on the face and in the stomach wasn't enough, the guy was bigger in seize than Taichi and stronger, hence the man fought back. Nonetheless, Taichi didn't give up and fought extremely well. The guards had to tear them apart and led the man outside, since Mimi took off when they were fighting and telling her story to the guards.

Once the man was out of sight, Mimi jumped on Taichi and kissing him all over his face. "Thank you so much. I was so scared- … I didn't know what he was capable off."

Taichi put his arms around her waist and laid his forehead on hers. "It's all right now, he's never going to bother you again, because I'll protect you. I'll always be there for you."

"Promise?"

He planted a small kiss on her forehead and answered. "Promise."

**End Flashback**

* * *

"Can we talk about other memories in which we weren't drunk?" Mimi asked desperately. 

"Or humiliating ones?" Miyako hissed at Hikari, who looked offensive but shrugged anyway. "Fine by me."

"You know, one of my favourite memories was when Mimi needed a break from all that studying, because her head was spinning from having her nose in the books all the time. So, we all want to the movies and you guys demanded me to go for the candy. Even tough, I didn't want to at that time, I was grateful that I did it anyway, because I accidentally bumped into Ken. Because of you two, I met the love of my life," Miyako paused. "If I didn't say it before, thanks."

"I remember that when I first got my job at Apisius that you guys held a surprise party at my own apartment. You really scared me when I walked in, but I was so happy that you guys even bothered," a tear of joy rolled down Mimi's cheek when she told the memory.

"Of course we bothered, you're our best friend," Hikari responded.

"And you guys are my best friends."

They shared a second group hug, wishing it could last forever. Gone through good and bad, in Odaiba and Kyoto always together made them like the three Musketeers. Now, they were about to lose a member. They were really going to miss Hikari. Sure, they would have random visits, but that wasn't going to be enough. It just wasn't going to be the same without having her around. Life did have it cruel ways.

"Maybe we should go, I think they're having a _girl_ moment," Daisuke remarked who just came in the apartment with Ken.

Ken just laughed when he saw the girls glare at Daisuke and Miyako shot back. "Sorry that we're human beings, Motomiya. We do have feelings unlike you."

Hikari sensed that they were about to quarrel again so she intervened. "Finally, you guys are here. We have packed most of the stuff and the boxes are at the door. Some of them have breakable stuff in them but it's written on the box, so be careful with those boxes."

Nodding, Daisuke lifted one of the heavier boxes which made him stumble a bit. Ken noticed this and asked. "Miyako, can you help Dai?"

"Sure, pumpkin pie."

As soon they were out the door, Ken turned towards Mimi and Hikari. "I have a favour to ask you two. As you already know by Dai, I'm planning to ask Miyako to marry me. Is your restaurant open tomorrow tonight, Meems?"

She shook her head. "No, most of the staff are on vacation for three days."

"Good, can you prepare a delightful diner for me and Miyako?"

"Sure, I can decorate the place a bit. Anything for my favourite couple."

"Thanks, Dai and Takeru can help you with that. Hikari, can you stall Miyako tomorrow until eight o'clock? Bring her to the restaurant at that time."

Hikari winked. "That can be arranged."

"Oh my god, our little Miyako is getting married," Mimi cheered, jumping up and down.

Ken closed his eyes. "Hopefully, she will say yes."

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure she will say yes. She loves you too much and she already told us a million times about the way she dreams about you and her having kids and a house at the countryside," Hikari comforted.

"You mean that?"

"One hundred percent."

Suddenly, they heard Miyako yell in the hallway, _probably_ at Daisuke. "Idiot, you almost dropped it on my foot!"

"Hey, if you weren't so clumsy then it wouldn't have slipped out of my hands. If I say go right, go right _not_ left!" Daisuke defended himself.

"Right for you is left for me!"

"I meant your right!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know that, you jerk!"

Takeru rolled his eyes and joined Mimi, Hikari and Ken. "I can't hear them bicker at each other anymore. Can I help here, because I don't want to go outside?"

Ken patted his back. "I'll make sure they'll calm down," he went out the door to go into the hall where they were getting at each others throat. They watched Ken retrieving and continued to carry the boxes to the truck.

Mimi scanned the apartment. Almost all of Hikari's stuff were packed, except a bit of her bathroom things and some clothes. She was going to sleep at Mimi's place since they were already moving most of her furniture too. The place was almost empty now, it was a strange sight. To think that Taichi used to live here too. Mimi sighed, everything was changing in her life.

She lifted the last box and bore it towards the truck. "The last one. Here is my spare key, Kar. Because when you get back, I'll be on my date with Yamato."

"Don't remind me," Takeru demanded teasingly. "It's weird when one of your best friends has a date with your big brother."

She pinched his cheek. "Sorry, but I can't help it that he has fallen for me."

"Come on, lovergirl. You have to get ready and-…," Miyako sniffed at her friend. "shower, because you reek."

"Thanks Miyako. Well, bye you guys, and maybe I'll see you tonight, Kar," she embraced everyone and left to prepare for her date.

She showered like Miyako had ordered her to, put her hair in an elegant bun and wore a sleeveless, black dress with a bear back. A touch of make-up and she was ready to go. Since it had been a while, she was a little anxious about her date. Even tough, dating was like driving a car. Once you had had the hang of it, you would remember and it would all come back to the mind again. However, that didn't keep her from being nervous about it. Breathing deep in and out, she gazed at her watch and noticed that he would be here any second. She found it ironic that she was ready in time, because when Taichi had to pick her up, he always had to wait for ten or fifteen minutes for her to be finished. All of the sudden, she heard the doorbell rang. Before opening the door, she checked in the mirror one last time. He rang again, so she guessed he was being impatient.

"Coming, coming," she shouted and opened the door. Yamato was surprised at the sight and checked her from head to toe. "Did I forget to tell that you didn't need to dress formal?"

Since she made an oblivious face, he took of his vest so she could see he was dressed in a sweat-shirt and a dark blue jeans, something casual.

"Actually, you did forget mentioning it. Wait a minute then I can change quickly. Why don't you make yourself comfortable? Make yourself feel at home."

"Sure."

She changed pretty fast into a long skirt and a blouse. She walked back into the living room where Yamato was waiting for her. "Ready and set."

Yamato put his vest back on and also put hers on, like a gentleman that he was. They walked together on the pavement. "So, where are we going? Is it far, because my feet are killing me?" Mimi complained.

"I'm not telling you where we are heading to, it's a surprise and no, it's not that far anymore. You wouldn't whine if you weren't wearing those high heels. They are so pointy that you could murder someone with it."

"High heels are sexy. It accentuates my long, beautiful legs."

Yamato rolled his eyes. "And you say I'm full of myself."

"If you got, flaunt it," Mimi stuck up her nose. "Which is _not_ true in your case."

"Thanks," he retorted. "This is the place, miss Long Legs."

Mimi knitted her eyebrows together out of ignorance, he definitely must be joking. This couldn't be the _surprise_! Why would he take her to _this place_? For a long time ago, she still knew this was a peculiar choice for a first date. Normally, you would go to the movies or a restaurant, even bowling was better than _this_. Maybe the rules of dating had changed, she just had to ask him _why_ to be certain.

"A karaoke bar? This is our first date!"

"And why not! Takeru told me you have a beautiful voice and I wanted to hear it myself. They serve delicious food here as well. Plus, it has a good sphere," Yamato commented.

Mimi smiled, he looked adorable when he was babbling on and on. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him towards the building. Since Yamato made reservations, they immediately got a table. It seemed the bar attracted lots of people, it was crowded and none of the tables were available at the moment for those who didn't reserve. Good thing he did.

They ordered sushi and for Mimi a coca-cola and Yamato a beer while listening to the people singing on the stage. Some of them were good, some awful but they didn't mind.

"I have a question," said Mimi.

"Ask ahead."

"I wondered since you're a star and all… how is the deal with your fans? Do you have some fanatics?"

Yamato blushed a bit. He didn't like to talk about his _fan club_ that much but he answered anyway. "Just promise you won't tell this to anyone."

Mimi put her right hand in the air and her left on the table. "I swear."

"Fine, I have fanatic fans and one of them is _really_ extreme, Motomiya Jun."

"As in Motomiya Jun, sister of Motomiya Daisuke!"

Yamato simply nodded. "I was shocked when I heard his surname yesterday. I had to control myself for not laughing."

"I can relate to that," Mimi said between giggles, she found this situation _very _amusing.

The waiter brought them their food and drinks. They ate it while talking a bit more about this and that. After they were done, Yamato asked. "Do you want to sing?"

Mimi tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, but shook her head slightly which made the strand fell back in its previous place. "Nah, I don't feel like singing."

"Let's sing together then. Like I said, before I really want to hear your voice. Please?"

She pressed her lips in a thin line and shrugged. "I guess arguing is pointless."

"Exactly… I'll go pick out a song."

He came back and spoke. "We're up after this song."

"Exciting," she responded with a hint of sarcasm. "Don't tell me you choose a song of your own band?"

He grinned. "No, just proving I'm not full of myself. In all serious now, I choose something cliché, namely 'I got you babe'."

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "That is cliché."

The one who was singing, was just finished so it was their turn now. They climbed on the little stage and stood behind two microphones. The deejay announced them to the audience. "Here are Ishida Yamato and Tachikawa Mimi as Sonny and Cher singing 'I got you babe'!"

The tune of the song was played and they began to sing.

_They say we're young and we don't know  
We won't find out until we're grown  
Well I don't know if all that's true  
'Cause you got me, and baby I got you_

_Babe  
I got you babe  
I got you babe_

_They say our love won't pay the rent  
Before it's earned,  
Our money's all been spent  
I guess that's so, we don't have a pot  
But at least I'm sure  
Of all the things we got_

_Babe  
I got you babe  
I got you babe_

_I got flowers in the spring  
I got you to wear my ring  
And when I'm sad, you're a clown  
And if I get scared, you're always around_

_Don't let them say your hair's too long  
'Cause I don't care,  
With you I can't go wrong  
Then put your little hand in mine  
There ain't no hill or mountain  
We can't climb_

_Babe  
I got you babe  
I got you babe_

_I got you to hold my hand  
I got you to understand  
I got you to walk with me  
I got you to talk with me  
I got you to kiss goodnight  
I got you to hold me tight  
I got you, I won't let go  
I got you to love me so  
I got you babe  
I got you babe  
I got you babe  
I got you babe_

Everyone was entranced by their voices, especially by Mimi. Even tough, he was singing in all seriousness while she kept giggling quietly. Yamato glanced at her a couple of times, hearing for himself that Takeru was right, she truly did posses a magnificent voice. Making a mental note to consider making a duet with her sometime. Or maybe she could consider singing as a profession, she sure would make a wonderful career with her looks and sound, she could earn millions.

As they went back to the table, Mimi kept on howling with laughter. Yamato raised an eyebrow at her, but found it entertaining that she had a great time according to her laughter. "Seems to me, you have a good time."

She got a hold of herself again. "Actually, I do. You know, this is my _real_ first date since Taichi. 'Cause Miyako and Hikari have tried to set me up lots of times and the fool that I am, I walked right in their traps every single time. If I look back at it now, I find it rather amusing but at the time it felt like I was being punished and sent to Hell. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and I yelled furiously at my friends. That's when they realised I wasn't ready to date just yet. Because of that, I scared all the guys away who tried to get near me."

"Glad I broke down your shell," he squeezed her hand a bit to reassure her that he understood her pain completely.

She gazed in his eyes and saw compassion, understanding and even love. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against his. She broke the kiss and smiled, it had felt _perfect_, utterly perfect. Not even wanting to stop, Yamato held her face with his hands and pulled her back in for a second one, this time more passionate and less cute. It was just the two of them, like they were in their own world. No more awkwardness, no more being shy, they had past that phase. Now it was heat, passion and love, it just connected between them and they both knew it that they had fallen for each other.

* * *


	4. Chapter Three

**Love From The Past**

**Chapter Three**

**

* * *

**No, that wasn't it, she definitely knew there was _lack_ of something, she only needed to find out what that was and how to achieve that piece of luck. AU/Romance 

**A/N:** I must warn you, their will be less interaction between Mimi and Yamato in this chapter (Yamato isn't even going to be in this chapter), cause it's entirely focused on Miyako and Ken's relationship and a surprise for Hikari. That doesn't mean this won't be romantic, quite the contrary in fact.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything... I'm starting to dislike writing that sentence every time I post a chapter :)

* * *

"What time is it now?" she whined for the millionth time. 

"Quarter past four. Stop asking, you're annoying me."

"Sorry, but my feet are killing me. We walked six times through the mall already. How much shopping can a girl like you do?"

Hikari rolled her eyes. Normally, she wasn't the mall type, but she had a mission. A mission called _'Stall Miyako till eight tonight.' _She wasn't planning on failing because she couldn't let Ken down, it had to be special tonight. Determined, she had to keep Miyako busy and that wasn't so easy. Mimi was way better in this sort of things. That girl knew the mall inside and out, she even knew who to stall people. For Hikari, this was a mission _impossible_.

Suddenly, Miyako broke Hikari out of her trance. "Kar, can we do something else? Or maybe sit down and have a drink?"

For Hikari it was all good, so she just shrugged, Miyako took a hold of the other girls hand and pulled her towards a coffee-shop. While Miyako ordered their cappuccino's, Hikari picked out a table for two. Cupping her head with her hands and resting her elbows on the table, she waited till Miyako came back. She thought about her love-life since all the events around Mimi and Miyako were happening, no hard feelings for her friends but she envied the luck of the two girls. Almost every second, she wished that her knight in shining armour would ride through her front door on his white stallion, but all she got was the _pizza-deliverer_ at her front door. She couldn't stand it anymore, why couldn't anything good andexciting happen to her? She never had done something to hurt anyone inventorially or even unconsciously. Was God testing her or what?

All of the sudden, someone tapped on her right shoulder, breaking her from her trance. Turning her head to her right, she saw nothing and rolled her eyes, thinking she was imagining things. Clueless to Hikari, that someone stood on her left side and waited till she would look. Sensing that she wouldn't turn her head around for a second time, that someone spoke to her. "Kar, are you dense? Look at your left side."

Hikari couldn't believe her eyes, there was no way _he_, of all people, was standing in front of her and she exclaimed. "Willis! What are you doing here? I didn't know you were visiting from America again."

"I know you weren't aware of my sudden visit, that was the surprise element," he replied smugly.

Hikari smiled, it had been a long time since she had seen Willis in America when she visited him. They both smiled at each other which became quite awkward for the two, so Willis decided to talk and scraped his throat. "So-… What are you doing here?"

"Shopping, obviously," she pointed out.

Willis felt embarrassed and smacked his head mentally. That was a stupid question, of all the question he could have asked, he just had to ask that particular one. Out of embarrassment, he ran his hand through his blond locks and continued the interrogation. "Are you here alone?"

She shook her head and pointed to Miyako who was standing in a row, waiting to order. By the looks of it, she was very impatient, tapping her foot and looking at her watch every second. It was indeed a funny sight. Hikari noticed that Willis lips turned into a grin and being curious as she was, she needed to know why he was grinning like that.

"What's with the smirk?"

Willis blinked. "Huh- ... What are you-…?"

"The moment you saw Miyako you started grinning like a mad man. What's up with that?"

Sighing loudly, he answered. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Hikari nodded and while doing so, Willis leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Ken is going to ask Miyako to marry him."

Hikari made a face, narrowing her eyes and raising her eyebrow. "That's your secret! I already knew that. That's why I'm here at the mall, Ken assigned me to _baby-sit_ Miyako until eight o'clock and then bring her at Apisius, which will be decorated by the others as we speak."

Willis' respond was mouthing an 'o' and glanced at Miyako one more time, but this time Miyako noticed him. Waving her arms above her head and yelling his name out loud, _everyone_ noticed him. Miyako definitely knew how to attract attention. Willis reddened from shyness when everyone gawked at him like they all did. Even though, they all looked at Miyako the same way, she didn't seem to care one bit.

Hikari envied that, being so care-free, not giving a damn what other people say or think about you. Running a hand through her hand, she pondered about _lots_ of stuff. She hated being jealous of her friends time from time, but she couldn't help it because she felt that she missing out many things in her life. Sometimes, she even hated her life because she never ever lived once, she felt like she was a ghost, being stuck on a parallel between Earth and the next dimension. Not alive nor dead, she walked on this Earth. Sure, she had fun and had dated plenty of guys, but that wasn't what she was looking for. Even though, she was building the career she always wanted, still it wasn't enough. Maybe she was fooling herself, maybe she was truly happy with being her and having what she had but was just looking for some drama that wasn't even there. No, that wasn't it, she definitely knew there was _lack_ of something, she only needed to find out what that was and how to achieve that piece of luck.

"Kar, are you all right?" Willis asked concerned. By then, Miyako was already there with the orders and looked concerned as well. Hiding her inner demon, she nodded, stood up from the table and plastered a fake smile on her face. "Why don't we go somewhere, anywhere for that matter?"

"Sure," Miyako agreed. "Willis, would you like to join us?"

Willis shook his head. "It's fine, I don't want to disturb your girls _day_ out."

He said his goodbye and gave them the number of his suite, so they could find him anytime they wanted to. Before he left them, he pecked Miyako on the cheek but when he attempted to give Hikari a peck he went with his mouth to the left while Hikari misinterpreted and went to her right in stead of her left. So, instead of kissing the cheek of one other, they kissed on the mouth just for a second, cause they realised what they were doing and immediately they both shot backwards. They both were embarrassed at the whole situation.

He swallowed hard before saying his goodbye a final time. After that, he left for whatever he was planning on doing.

Miyako crossed her arms and looked at Hikari, who was staring at her shoes to try to cover her pink cheeks. Finding this all amusing, Miyako began to laugh and hugged the younger girl. "Euhm Hikari, what was that all about?"

Lying her head on Miyako's shoulder, Hikari sighed. "I _really_ don't know."

* * *

"Daisuke, don't you dare taste that cake with your finger!" she shouted while smacking his hand away from the dessert. 

"But Mimi-… It looks so delicious. Can't you split the cake in two?" Daisuke pleaded.

Abruptly, she shook her head but he didn't pay any attention to it, he had his sight on the chocolate cake and was _desperately_ trying to get a bite. Daisuke had this weird habit when it came to food, that he always wanted to eat the whole thing by himself. Just like Taichi for that matter. How those two could eat like they did, would be an eternal unsolved question.

Takeru snickered at the sight. He, as everyone else, knew that Daisuke would always be a baby who will never grow up. "Dai, stop your pleading. I'm sure Mimi would bake you another _whole_ cake another day."

Drooling a bit, Daisuke began to jump up and down with excitement. Mimi stepped towards Takeru and mouthed. "Thank you."

But he replied whispering. "Don't thank me yet. Because now, you _owe_ him a cake."

All the colour of Mimi's face drained away when Takeru mentioned that _minor_ fact and she wrinkled her nose while looking at the eager Daisuke. After a minute or two, Daisuke finally got serious again, well as serious as he could get and wondered. "Takeru, how come we have met Yamato yesterday? Why not sooner?"

Seeing that Takeru saddened at the question, Mimi laid her hand on his shoulder to offer him support. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

"It's okay, it's just that when we were young our parents got divorced and he lived with my dad and I lived with my mom. In the beginning, we visited each other plenty of times but he got into trouble because of vandalism. As result that my mom didn't allow the visits no more, because she was scared that he would _inspire_ me to be a vandal myself. It's been recently that we got contact of each other again, so…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault," Takeru reassured. "Shouldn't we decorate some more, because we have two more hours left. And knowing Ken, everything has to be flawless."

When Takeru said that everything had to be flawless, Mimi thought about something in the past. Something that happened on Hikari's twentieth birthday, three years ago.

* * *

**Flashback**

Mimi scanned the living room, it looked _amazing_. Balloons flying against the ceiling, some tied down to cupboards and the knobs of the doors, birthday cards on the chimney-piece, all the presents were lying on a table, on another table was filled all sort of snacks and drinks. It was like an elementary birthday party but it was cute and Hikari said she missed those days, because she thought she was getting old even though she was turning twenty that day. Typical for Hikari to search for some drama in her life. She always searched for more, like what all she had, wasn't enough.

All by all, Mimi was positive Hikari would be content with the party Taichi organized for her. He invited all her friends, even the ones Taichi didn't even know personally, he just stole her address book and called all the people in it. Everything had to go _flawless_ according to Taichi, he always wanted best for his sister. Especially now, since Arata had dumped the poor thing.

It was so sad, they were dating for three months and the week before her birthday, he had the guts to dump her. Taichi would have kicked his ass all the way to the hospital if Koushirou, Takeru and Daisuke wouldn't have stopped him before doing so.

That's _why_ Taichi wanted everything to go perfect for his baby-sister, to cheer her up and make sure she wouldn't have her thoughts on Arata on her own birthday. So he sent Hikari with Miyako to their parents in Odaiba, so he could decorate their apartment, which he did amazingly good. Now, everyone, who could make it out of her address book and Taichi, Daisuke, Takeru and his girlfriend Yukiko, Koushirou and his fiancée Kasumi, Ken, Sora and Mimi were waiting for Miyako to show up with Hikari.

They all heared noises in the hall, so everyone hided and turned off the lights. The doorknob of the frontdoor was pushed down and the door went open, revealing Miyako and Hikari. Once they both were inside and when Miyako switched the light on, everyone came out of their hiding place and all yelled. "Happy birthday, Hikari!"

She was truly surprised, she jumped a meter high. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks and she hugged everyone, beginning with her friends from college then our little gang, and last but not least her own brother.

"Taichi, you're the best brother in the world. I don't want to trade you for anyone else," she thanked him wile hugging her very tightly. After that, she went to talk to some friends.

"You really are a great person, I too don't want to trade you for anyone else," Mimi confirmed with a passionate kiss, playing with his tongue. She laid her arms in his neck and gazed affectionately in his eyes after the kiss. "I'm wondering if you would do something like this for my birthday."

"You'll have to wait and see," he smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm going to get a drink. See ya later, babe."

He pecked her on the cheek very quickly like he was keen to get away from her. Noticing this, Mimi wanted to get to the bottom of this. But she decided to wait after the party so they wouldn't make a scene on Hikari's birthday. She just had to know what the hell was bothering Taichi, it had been for _a month_ that he was avoiding her. Did she do something wrong? She certainly hoped not.

Maybe Hikari would know something more, she was in fact his sister and they were really close. Locating Hikari through the small crowd was tougher than Mimi thought, but she found her eventually.

"Kar, I need to ask to you something important. Do you know what's bothering Taichi? I mean-… he has been avoiding me for quite a while and I need to know, is he-… Is he mad at me for some reason?" Mimi inquired but she got no response. All Hikari did, was staring at _nothing_. So, she asked concerned. "Kar, is something wrong?"

Finally, Hikari snapped. "Mimi, God how can you be so over-dramatic! Taichi loves you with all his heart so he would never do something to hurt you, okay? Everybody doesn't have that luck, _I_ don't have that luck. I mean-…," tears of sadness this time, were sparkling in her eyes, but they didn't fall down. She kept on talking. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have screamed like that to you, it's not your fault nor your problem, but it's just-… You want to know the real reason why Arata broke up with me?"

Before Mimi could answer, the birthday girl continued her story. "He figured we didn't belong together because he knew I love Takeru. I thought he was joking and he was wrong, but I know nowhe was and is right. I'm in love with Takeru, but I suppressed my feelings for him all this time. And now that I know for certain, I can't even tell him the truth because he's together with this wonderful and beautiful girl. How can I compete to Yukiko? Just look at her, she's tall, I'm not. She has long wavy black hair, I have short brown hair with no volume in it. She is voluminous with the right curves, I'm not. She has glittering sea-green eyes with freckles of gold in them, I just have plain brown. I'm no match for her. You have know idea how my heart is aching now? My own feelings for him are stabbing me in my heart."

"I had no clue. I'm so sorry, Hikari. If you need anything just snap your fingers and I will be there for you," Mimi attempted to comfort Hikari, who just embraced her for support.

Hikari broke the hug to get tissues to wipe the tears in her eyes. Mimi, on the other hand, walked towards Taichi to tell him the story, she figured Hikari could use his support right now.

Taichi was talking to Sora and she was standing behind them, only seeing their backs. Just when she was about to tap her finger on his shoulder, she overheard their conversation.

"Sora, I don't know what to do now. I love Mimi, but when I look straight in her innocent eyes, I feel guilty for what happened. I'm disgusted with myself," Taichi shared with Sora, and unbeknownst to himself, with Mimi too.

"I know what you're going through, I can't look her straight in the eyes myself. Come on, she's my best friend and I can't believe what we have done. It's going to break her heart," Sora confessed as well.

Taichi whispered. "I can't tell her, I just can't."

"Can't tell me _what_?" Mimi hissed, crossing her arms, tapping her foot.

Sora and Taichi both turned around to see Mimi standing their, eavesdropping on them.

A loud sigh escaped Taichi's mouth. He closed his eyes to stop the tears from flowing and not daring to look at her. "That I'm _leaving_ you."

**End Flashback**

* * *

Tears welled up in Mimi's eyes, but she was determined not to cry. Licking her lips, she glanced around the restaurant. A brilliant idea came to her mind for the final touch to the place. 

She ran away from the guys and came back with a bucket of roses. Before they could ask anything, she intervened. "Let's strew rose petals from the door to their table and around the table as well. It will be _so _romantic."

Even though, they were guys and didn't love all that fluffy _shit_ and all, they had to agree with her. So they plucked all the petals from the roses and threw them in another bucket. It took them a whole hour and forty minutes, they make sure to have enough petals to strew around, which they did after all the plucking.

They scanned the place they had been decorating for the entire afternoon. Well, mostly Daisuke and Takeru, since Mimi was cooking the dinner. But now everything was ready except for putting the champagne on the table.

Quickly, they changed into those outfits, Mimi's waitresses and waiters wore. Daisuke thought he looked like a penguin. Now, everything was done only the lovely couple were missing, which Daisuke commente. "Where the hell is Ken? He has to be here before Miyako to make his plan work."

Right on time, Ken walked through the door in a ebony black tuxedo and a matching tie. It suited him and made him very handsome. His mouth dropped wide open when he saw the restaurant.

"Wow, guys, it's-… it's absolutely perfect. Thank you."

They all smiled and Takeru told him. "Go sit down, Daisuke will stand at the door to welcome them when they arrive and I will be your waiter."

While Ken sat down, Mimi and Takeru went into the kitchen and Daisuke waited at the door. Five minutes had passed and stillno sign of the girls. Finally, they arrived and strolled through the door. Hikari had tricked Miyako into wearing a cobalt blue, dress that reached the floor. It had two straps and had a low cut, so you could see a bit of her cleavage.

Daisuke bowed for them and spoke gently. "Good evening my lady, would you care to follow me to your surprise, Miss Inoue?"

Miyako stared at the place, she was speechless. But she couldn't fathom what was happening. Abruptly, she demanded, after she found her voice again, what was going on. Daisuke bowed a second time, and replied with much courtesy. "Follow me, and you will be answered."

Scratching the back of her head, she followed Daisuke and was led towards the table where Ken was waiting for her. She clasped her hands over her mouth and tears of happiness reached her eyes. "Oh my gosh, you did this all for me?"

Ken took her hand and kissed it. "Of course, because I love you and you deserve this."

He shoved her chair behind and when she sat down, he shoved it back under her. Sitting across from her at the round table, he took her hand again and began stroking it with his thumb affectionately.

"Ken, you really impressed me with all of this. Don't tell me it's our anniversary or something? Because, if that's the case, I don't have a present for you," Miyako rattled.

Ken laughed it off. "No, it's not our anniversary or anything special. I only wanted to celebrate our love for each other."

"That's so sweet," Hikari awed and noticed she had interrupted their _moment_. She blushed a bit. "Sorry, would you two care for some champagne?"

They both nodded and Hikari poured the context in their glasses. After Hikari left, they clinked their glasses and drank a bit. Then came Takeru with the entrées, oysters.

While the two were eating their delicious entrées, the others in the kitchen had their hands full. Apparently, Daisuke had accidentally knocked over the chocolate cake. Mimi was furious, grabbed Daisuke's shoulders and started shaking him roughly. "You moron, how can you ruin the cake? Now I don't have a dessert and there's no time for making a new one!"

By the looks of it, Mimi was about to murder Daisuke, so Takeru butted in. "Mimi, stop. Why don't we try something else for dessert that you can bake now?"

Mimi let go of Daisuke, who ran away from her and hid behind Hikari. On the verge to cry, Mimi sobbed a bit. "Maybe we can make flambéed pancakes."

"Hikari and I will help you with that, while Daisuke, instead of me, serves them the main course," Takeru spoke.

Frowning, Mimi protested. "No! Daisuke isn't touching anything now. I won't allow him destroying anything else!"

"I'm going to help. Ken is my best friend and I want to best for him. Please Mimi, I promise I won't screw up," Daisuke countered.

When she didn't say anything in return, he pouted and made puppy dog noises to convince her. As response, she shrugged and allowed him to help again. She couldn't resist it when he pouted. Seeing as Miyako and Ken were finished with the entrées, Daisuke had his cue to clean the dirty dishes and carry them back to the kitchen.

While Mimi gave instructions to Hikari and Takeru to make the new dessert, Daisuke took the two plates of the main course, hare with croquettes and stewed apples, to bring it to the lovely couple. He placed them on the table and poured some more champagne in their glasses. After that, he went back into the kithen to check how the others were doing with the dessert.

Miyako really enjoyed all the attention from Ken and made a mental note to gave him something in return when they would go to _sleep_. Well, they wouldn't get much sleep tonight. She never thought she would ever be so lucky as of today. Usually, she always wished to be in Mimi's shoes when she had Taichi, but now, she would never wish for anything else except Ken. How ironic to find your one true love in a movie theatre by accidentally knocking him and yourself over. For that one time, she was glad she was so clumsy.

After they were finished eating, Daisuke collected the plates again. The moment he was out of sight, Miyako stood up from her seat and walked over to Ken. Placing her arms around him from behind, she kissed his temple. "Ken, I really love you and I don't ever want to be with someone else. I want to keep everything as it is right now."

"Miyako, I need to tell you something. Can you sit down again?" Ken pleaded.

The corner of Miyako's mouth changed into a smile and she nodded. When she sat down again, Ken took her hands and covered them with his own. Scraping his throat very loudly, he licked his lips.

"Miyako, I knew once you bumped into me in that movie theatre, that I would love you my whole life and that we would grow old together. I can't picture my life without you and I hope you feel the same way. Because you make me complete, we are one being and without you, I know I wouldn't survive. Your love makes me the happiest man in this whole world. If you cry, I cry and when you laugh, I laugh because we share the same soul. I really love you with all my heart and that's why I organized this evening for you. I wanted to make this our most special evening because I wanted to give you this."

His hand went inside his tuxedo to take out a little velvet box of his inner pocket.

Mimi, Hikari, Takeru and Daisuke were all watching from the kitchen. Suddenly Daisuke remarked and put his arm around Mimi's shoulders. "Mimi, now you wasted your time on the dessert, they don't need it now."

Mimi, who was already crying, responded. "I don't care about the stupid dessert. That's not important, what's going to happen now is important. Their love is important."

Daisuke just smiled at her and pulled her closer to him. Wrapping her arms around him as well and lying her head on his shoulder, they both watched. Hikari and Takeru were silently watching too.

Ken opened the little velvet box, revealing the engagement ring with a dark blue sapphire. First he swallowed, since he was nervous like hell and asked. "Miyako, will you make me an honest man by marrying me?"

Miyako's eyes widened and her mouth fell open a tad. Looking deeply in his eyes, she answered to his question.

"I don't know."

* * *


	5. Chapter Four

**Love From The Past**

**Chapter Four**

* * *

She was like an angel, who had clipped her wings to experience human feelings, mostly love, which she was perceiving now. And it was one hell of a feeling. AU/Romance 

**A/N:** I'm sorry that it took me while to update but I had a lot of work, besides I want to put my heart and soul in this story, since it's my first one. For all you Mimato fans, there's brief interaction between them again and I'm sorry for the last chapter that there wasn't romance between them. Anyway, enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

Miyako couldn't believe what she had done to Ken two days ago. How could she? Not a hair on her head would have ever thought about hurting Ken in any way possible. Yet she did it on the cruellest way. 

"Ken, can't we talk about this? I-… I'm sorry. Please, say something, _anything_."

No response. Not a word, nor a kick, just _nothing_.

That had been going on for the last two days. Begging, crying, yelling, nothing made him talk. Of course, he avoided her now, she couldn't blame him. He wanted to take their relationship to the next level, by marrying each other and all she answered was "_I don't know_." Although what he asked was everything she ever wanted, damn she even dreamed about the perfect wedding since she was _four _years old. On that moment, she just froze and didn't know how to react. For some reason she got scared, that she hurt herself and the person she loved the most.

After her words, he had spurted out the restaurant. He had taken of for the whole night, when he had returned to their apartment, where she had been waiting for him, he reeked after cigarettes, beer and other heavy drinks. Which revealed he had been to some bar the entire night. And he had never touched an alcoholic drink in his life! When she had tried to talk to him then, he had pushed her out of his way, physically, and now, he tried to push her away, psychically.

"Ken, please. I get it that you hate me right now, but we need to talk about-…"

"Talk about what!" he snapped, interrupting her and yelled furiously. "About the fact that you don't want to marry me or that you don't want to be with me? Or about the fact you don't love me and that you've been deceiving me this whole time?"

"I do love you!" she remanded immediately.

"Well, it doesn't seem like it," he whispered with a tone of disappointment.

But it was still loud enough for her to hear it. Not believing what he had whispered, she tried to hold back the tears which were threatening to fall. "How can you think that?"

"Why don't you tell me the reason why I'm pretty confident that you don't love me?" he retorted, while looking her straight in the eyes without even blinking once. She could see his anger risen with just a look.

With a trembling lower lip, she shook her head softly. "I-… I don't know."

He grinned on a eerily way and commented bitterly. "Apparently, you don't know a lot of things lately."

Grabbing his jacket, he took of _again_. Only this time, she didn't know if he had any intentions to come back… to her.

She really screwed up this time.

What was she supposed to do now?

The only thing she could do, was crying and waiting. But she wouldn't. She was going to take manners in her own hands and made him listen to her explanations. Without her jacket she ran out to door to chase him. She would repair their relationship, even if it was the last thing on Earth she would do. Not caring what he thought or felt, she did love him and always would, no matter what.

"Ken, wait up!" she squealed cause of the cold. "Ken, stop this instant."

Easily, she caught up with him since she was running as fast as her legs could bear and he was sauntering slowly, pondering on stuff. She yanked on his arm to make him stop, her yelling didn't help so a little force would.

"Ken, I'm so sorry that I put you through all of this, but I can't help that I am-…," she stopped in her tracks, she couldn't talk any further. With one look at her face, you could see that she was scared of continuing her story.

"Can't help what?" Ken finally loosened upa bit, since he noticed that his girlfriend was in a lot of pain. Sure, she did rip out his heart two days ago, he did cave in and became concerned. Guess that true love made you do that. Second, he sensed that what she was trying to hide from him, was going to be the main reason why she didn't say yes to his request.

"I-… I-…," she choked on her words.

Ken noticed she was afraid, so he wanted to give her some support by embracing her and gently rocking her back and forth. At first, she tensed when he took her in his arms, because of their quarrel, but then she observed that his concern was genuine and that he didn't care about the quarrel anymore. Now she knew for sure that she was ready to tell him the truth about her greatest fear, she felt that she could trust him.

Looking deep in his deep blue sea eyes, she attempted to explain the tale of her anxiety. "Okay, I'll be completely honest with you… My biggest fear is getting married."

Slowly, she inhaled and closed her eyes. "When I was a little girl, my parents got divorced. Ever since, my mom has told me not to settle down, that I'm better off by myself than depending on a guy who would leave me in the end. However, my mom still loved my dad and couldn't bear knowing with the fact that he moved on without her, even though it was _him_ who cheated on her. The judge made me live with her but she was never home, I practically raised myself. The reason why was because she was busy to stalk my dad, than being there for me and helping me get through that entire situation. In the end, she did recover and became a great mom for me. That's why I'm afraid of getting depended on someone else."

His mouth parted slightly while he attempted to consume her background. He couldn't believe what she had gone through. How could parents do that to their child, they were ought to support her, raise her and most importantly give her affection? He, on the other hand, got all the affection and caring from his parents that he needed. Both he and his brother, Ichijouji Sam. Unfortunately, when he was eleven years old, he lost his brother in a car accident. On the contraire to her, he got support from his parents through that difficult time and he grew to live with it, although it was tough and the process sure took a lot of time, but time heals. How could their lives get so miserable?

Gently, he began to stroke her hair and he planted a kiss the top of her head. "Miyako, it's alright. I'm here for you and I'm not planning on leaving you ever. You do realize that, don't you?"

Burying her head on his chest, she started to weep a bit. "Of course I know that but I'm scared of loving you back, which I do. It never occurred to me until you asked me to marry you."

"There's absolutely nothing to be frightened of. I'll guide you through all this, I'll give you all the attention and caring you need," he comforted.

"Thanks, Ken."

With one stroke of his thumbs, he wiped the tears away from her eyes and they smiled at each other.

"I'm so sorry I've hurt you. You're the most important man, no, I mean person in my life. I comprehend completely if you don't want to be with me anymore. Well, I was being a complete and utter bitch for what I've done to you," Miyako told Ken.

Slightly, Ken shook his head and assured her _again_. "Miyako, I'm going to tell you this one last time. I love you and I'm not going to leave you."

Miyako nodded and took the whole conversation in, because she still felt like she was floating on air since Ken told her all those sweet things, she couldn't believe how he would want to be with her. But for some reason, he did prefer being with her than any other woman. Right now, she was the luckiest woman on Earth.

"I made up my mind, my answer is yes!" she exclaimed all of the sudden.

Ken gaped at her with a bewildered look on his face. "You-… You mean that?"

"Yes, yes, I want to marry you," Miyako cheered while she jumped in his arms.

"Then, we have to tell the others and start planning."

"I guess we do. Wow, this is so excited. Especially, cause it's with you. I love you so much, Ken."

Ken pressed his lips firmly on hers before saying back. "And I love you too."

* * *

Mimi gazed at Yamato and wondered why she was so fortunate to meet him. Several times, she pondered why he stepped up to her that day and talked to her. Though it didn't matter, she embraced this happiness with her arms wide open. She slurped on her straw of her ice tea while gazing at him. For no reason at all, she couldn't stop eyeing him, they were like magnets, drawn to each other. 

Since she was looking at him the whole time, she noticed his face grew worried. "Yama, what's the matter?"

Before he replied, he gulped from his lemonade. "Meems, I have some bad news, unfortunately. I-… I'm going away for a short while, because I need to perform in others cities. My manager said we had enough rest and now, we need to tour again. I'm sorry, but I'll be back in a couple of months."

"It's okay," she smiled genuinely at him. "I understand that you have to work too, trust me, tomorrow my staff will be back and then, I have to get to business as well. Fun is something else, but work is part of life. Also, I know you'll be back."

"You're the best _girlfriend_ ever. My ex wasn't so understanding, she always thought I would cheat on her with one of-…"

Mimi waved her hand in front of his face to stop his babbling. "Wait, hold on. Did you just called me your girlfriend?"

"I did, didn't I?" Yamato blushed pink.

"Yeah, you did. Thanks, I consider you as my boyfriend too," leaning forward, she pecked him on the cheek. "Too bad you have to leave, but we'll see each other after your touring. Besides, we do live in the twenty-first century now, we have phones and e-mail."

"I will call you every day," Yamato promised her.

"So, when do you have to go?" she inquired with a tiny hint of disappointment.

Without noticing the disappointment in her voice, he answered. "In two or three days, not immediately if that's what you wanted to know."

"Well, then we have to make those two days the best days of her lives."

He nodded to reassure her answer and thought aloud. "So, what can we do?"

"I don't know," Mimi said while shrugging. "We can do anything. Why don't you choose?"

Suddenly, Hikari stepped in the tearoom with Willis, but the weird thing about is that they were holding hands. Yamato spotted them and instead of responding Mimi's question, he waved at them and shouted. "Hikari, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Yamato, Meems, I was just sightseeing with Willis and we have gone all morning. So, we thought about a little pit stop and have a drink. Since this is a good place, we thought about going in here," Hikari told while Willis waved hello to Yamato and Mimi.

Yamato smirked. "Are you sure you were just sightseeing or were you two on a date?"

Making a surprised face, Willis asked. "What are you talking about?"

"It seems to me, you two are entangled with each other."

Hikari and Willis both looked at their intertwined fingers, which they were oblivious to it all and they blushed crimson. Giggling at the cute sight, Mimi offered and winked at Yamato. "Why don't you sit with us, then we'll make it a _double date_."

Yamato asked Willis. "So, what do you think of Kyoto? Did you enjoy the sightseeing?"

"In fact, I did. However, I have to admit that the greatest sight of them all, is this girl right here," he complimented Hikari and laid his arm around her shoulders.

In response, Hikari blushed major pink and giggled. "Willis, don't tease me like that, it's totally inappropriate."

Mimi who was listening and watching their 'talk', cocked an eyebrow sceptically. She found the word exchange between the youngsters very overboard and odd.

"I can't help it that you, my dear, are the most beautiful and breathtaking girl in the world. As you know, I had my share of ladies and you truly outshine them all. It's the truth and nothing but the truth, Kar. You have to learn to accept compliments," Willis quipped, _again_.

Hikari continued to giggle. "You are such a player! But to be bold, I like your flirting style, now I can visualise why Dai told me every woman fawns all over you."

"I have to powder my nose. Hikari, would you care to join me?" Mimi intervened their conversation, because she had to ask Hikari something important and to set a couple of things straight.

Hikari sighed. "Sure Meems, excuse us."

Once they were inside the bathrooms, Mimi turned towards her younger friend and spit out. "Kar, what was that all about?"

"What are you implying?" Hikari cocked an eyebrow.

"You know perfectly well what I mean. What is that with Willis, are you infatuated by him? Because last time I checked you were still madly in love with Takeru."

"I can't believe you," Hikari closed her soft brown eyes. "First, my love life is none of your business until I make it your business, besides Willis and I are just friends. Second, I've been in love with Takeru for ages and nothing happened. We're still friends and I guess he wants to leave it like that. Third, I'm not going to wait my whole life till Takeru suddenly realizes he loves me back, which he probably doesn't. I think I have given him enough signs to show him my love, but he doesn't get it, so why should I continue to bother?"

Mimi put her hand on Hikari's shoulder. "You don't know how he feels until you ask him. Maybe, he thinks the same thing you're thinking right now. We don't live in the Middle Ages anymore, woman can make the first step if they want a guy."

"Look who's talking!" Hikari hissed. "Remember in high school, you were crazy about Taichi and you never made a move on him. If it wasn't for _Koushirou_ and _me_, you would probably never even had the guts to tell him your true feelings. If it wasn't for us to push you over the edge, to confront you with your own emotions and to say that you loved him, he would have been with Sora from the first start. So, don't give me love advice, because I find _that_ rather pathetic. So keep your advices for yourself, I don't need it. Besides, your love life right now, isn't so fabulous as you think it is, since you have this great guy by your side who you don't even gave him enough attention because you're still too busy sulking over Taichi. At least, I try to forget Takeru, I do make an effort unlike you."

While Mimi watched Hikari retrieve from the bathroom, she wallowed in Hikari's words. Those words had an impact on her, they hurt her badly, but they were the truth nonetheless.

* * *

**Flashback**

"Izz, I don't know if I should tell him. Sora loves him too, she told me herself, and they have this history. Come on, they know each other since they were lying in their cradles," Mimi discussed with Koushirou. "Why did I even meet him, if I didn't then I wouldn't have fall in love with him in the first place."

"Meems, I'm sure he has a thing for you. He only sees Sora as a friend and nothing more," Koushirou comforted his friend. "Just go to him like you intended to and see where the evening takes you. Whether you should tell him or not, you'll see then."

Mimi gave Koushirou a big hug. "You are too smart for your own good. Thanks, Izz."

As she intended to, she went to the soccer field where she was supposed to meet Taichi. They planned on going to the movies as a _friendly_ date. Even though, she met Taichi through Koushirou, he attracted her in some weird way and she eventually fell for his charm. She knew Taichi and Koushirou were best friends, they met each other when Koushirou was thirteen, when Koushirou moved next to him. Since then, the two boys were inseparable, except during the class in school. Koushirou was her age and they both were a year younger then Taichi and Sora. Hence, she met Koushirou too when she was thirteen, because they were in the same class.

At first, Koushirou and her were an item, but it didn't last long, for two months or so. There were too much differences between them, they had zero in common. So, they decided to be friends, which worked perfectly well for them. One day, after a lot of arguing, Koushirou introduced Mimi to Taichi and Sora. The truth was that Mimi had a negative impression of them, her being a daddy's little princess and them being these sportive, outgoing teenagers.

But her prejudices had misled her, once she got to know the other two, she realized she had been sadly mistaken. They were fun to be with, they became very good friends, you could say even best friends. The four of them were a tight group, who were always seen with one other. After two years, their did come problems. It seemed Sora and Mimi had both fallen for the likes of Taichi, who was torn between the two without even knowing himself.

Thus, Mimi decided it was time to tell him about her feelings before Sora would. But she was scared as hell and began doubting the whole affair. Perhaps, she should let him be with Sora, it was like they were destined to be with each other. Sora and Taichi had a lot in common, they were exactly the same. If she would reveal her feelings to Taichi and when he would say yes, then fate would kick her in the ass later, since she was positive that Taichi loved Sora.

She sat down on the benches, waiting for Taichi. It was odd since she only sat on these benched when Taichi had to play a soccer match. After three whole hours, she thought he wouldn't show up anymore and she planned on going home, however she would wait ten more minutes. Finally, she saw Taichi heading over her, but she observed that he looked worried.

"Taichi, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Mimi asked concerned.

"Did something happen?" Taichi repeated when he snapped, while mocking her. "Yeah, something happened. Sora came by today and she told me-… I still can't believe it all, but she told me she loved me this whole time."

Mimi saddened by his phrase but he didn't noticed and continued his rattling. "I was speechless. For once in my life, I didn't know how to act around Sora. I mean-… She's-… She's-… Sora, you know. She's my buddy, my pal, my mate, my homey,… my best friend. I don't know if I love her back, I mean I don't think so. I never even looked at her that way, why should I now? After quite some pondering, I said to her that I would be back to her later after I made up my mind. So, I went to Izz and my sister, who was there for some help with her geometry homework, for some advice."

"Then what happened?" Mimi inquired, even tough she was afraid of the outcome.

"They told me that I should decide about my feelings for Sora after I talked with you, because they said you needed to tell me something important."

"Oh," was all Mimi could say after the entire story. Now, she was obliged to reveal her feelings. After a deep sigh, she spoke again. "Well, this may shock you but I-… I-… God, I can't even confess it."

"Confess what?"

A long pause, which made him anxious and he confirmed it with repeating his question, this time more angrier. "Confess what, Mi?"

She lowered her head and stared at her shoes. For the moment, it relaxed her a tad more by not looking directly at him. "That I love you as well."

Now, it was his turn to pause. "What?"

"I like you, Taichi. I like you a lot. I understand completely if you don't want to hang out with me anymore and that you love Sora back instead of me. But I had to tell you how I feel."

He blinked twice while consuming what she just told him. "I see."

"Okay, I'll be going then. Let me know when you decided between Sora and me," she walked towards him, grabbed his shoulders and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Bye, Taichi."

After her little kiss, his hand touched the spot on his cheek and he watched her walk away from the soccer field. When memories of both of the girls flashed in front of his eyes, he made up his mind. He knew which girl his heart desired and that girl was the one, who was walking away from him right now.

"Mi, wait!" he screamed at her to make her stop. But since she already got far, he ran up to her. "Why are you walking away?"

Mimi gave him a questioning look. "Didn't I tell you? Because I want to give you some space to think about this."

"What makes you think I need to think this through? What if I already know who I want?"

Mimi pursed her lips together. "If you know, then you have to tell her."

"Okay, Mi, I love you," after he admitted his returning feelings for her, he held her face with both his hands and pulled her in for a steamy, passionate kiss.

The kiss seemed to last forever according to Mimi, even tough it only lastedtwenty seconds. But for her it was a life time in heaven. She was like an angel, who had clipped her wings to experience human feelings, mostly love, which she was perceiving now. And it was one hell of a feeling. There was still one obstacle for their growing love.

"What about Sora?" Mimi asked Taichi, even tough she didn't want to speak about it.

Taichi hummed, understanding what Mimi was implying. "I will tell her, don't worry about that. I will explain everything to her."

"I just hope it doesn't devastate our friendship with her."

"It won't, you'll see."

**End Flashback**

* * *

Mimi ran after Hikari. "Kar, don't run away from me!" 

But it was no use, she already left the restaurant with Willis. Yamato looked sympathised at her. "I guess you said something wrong because she was mumbling about 'stupid Mimi, nerve of her', that's all I heard from it."

"I said something wrong?" Mimi asked sceptically. "I didn't say shit, but she's the one who blew up and started to say things that I couldn't believe she, of all people, would throw in my face."

She bit her lower lip out of frustration, but she calmed herself down. It was no use in taking it all out on Yamato, it wasn't his fault nor his problem. But that didn't hold her back of being angry with Hikari, how could she say all those things? She should know how the past had affected Mimi and how much she was attempting to forget.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Brusquely, Mimi shook her head. "No, I don't. Let's get out of here, so I can get my mind of my brief conversation with Hikari."

"Sure, whatever you want."

They paid for their drinks and went outside. Hand in hand, they walked on the pavement, heading for Mimi's apartment. That was until Yamato's cell phone rang and interrupted their moment. He looked at the ID-caller and saw it was his manager.

"Hello, this is Ishida Yamato speaking. What's wrong?"

Mimi noticed that a frown was plastered on Yamato's face, while he was listening intensely to his manager. A lot of yes and hums came out of Yamato's mouth. Finally, Yamato used a full sentence. "Sure thing, I'll be there in a second. Bye."

He hung up and put his cell phone back in his pocket. "Sorry Meems, I have to go. I'll call you tonight, okay?" he gave her a quick peck and left to go to his manager.

When he was out of sight, Mimi whispered. "Okay."

Pressing her lips together in a thin line, she headed for her apartment by herself. Suddenly, it hit her that Hikari was staying at her place, so they had to make up, didn't they? Well, they ought to, because their friendship was to important to risk losing.

Mimi gazed ahead of her and saw a man about her age with red hair window-shopping. He came familiar for some reason, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The moment Mimi saw his face, she recognized him, but why was he here? Wasn't he in Tokyo with Taichi and Sora?

Even though, she wanted to say something to him, she felt awkward and kind of nervous. Would he still recognize her after three years? Most importantly, would he still want to talk to her after the whole _affair _with Taichi, they were best friends after all?

After quite some pondering, she gathered all her courage and stepped up to him. Plastering her most dashiest smile on her face, she greeted. "Sorry to interrupt, but you come familiar to me. Is there any chance, you are Izumi Koushirou?"

"Yes, I am. May I ask who you are?" he questioned with a startled look.

"I'm Tachikawa Mimi."

"Mimi! Wow, that's been a while. How are you?" he sounded excited, so all her worries were for nothing.

"I'm fine, thank you."

They shook hands and she noticed a wedding ring on his finger. "My gosh, you got married!"

Blushing scarlet, he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, with Kasumi. You do remember her, do you?"

"Sure, you were engaged to her three years ago. I like her, I knew from the beginning you two were meant to be," Mimi smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She found it rather sad that she wasn't informed nor invited to the wedding. "Well, congratulations. I hope she had the ceremony she always wanted."

"I'm sorry I didn't invite any of you guys, but it was a small wedding and it was very fast. Sort of a fling-of-the-moment thing. It would have been more special if all of you could have witnessed it, but I was afraid of your reaction when you would have seen Taichi and Sora," Koushirou explained.

Mimi hushed. "I understand, I think I would have said no to your invitation because of _them_. But enough about that, why are you here actually?"

"Takeru needed me for something, but I haven't seen him yet. So I am just as clueless as you."

"Let me know, if you know something yourself," Mimi joked. "Bye then, it was definitely a pleasure seeing you again."

As she was about to stroll away, Koushirou grabbed her arm. "Wait! Euhm, there's actually something else I need to tell you. It's about Taichi."

* * *


	6. Chapter Five

**Love From The Past**

**Chapter Five**

**

* * *

**"Yes, she is worth more than that." AU/Romance 

**A/N:** There will be no flashback in this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

Miyako glanced around her apartment, she shared with Ken for the last four years. She took out all her cleaning equipment, since it was time for her monthly big cleaning. Perhaps, Ken was right, she was a neat freak. But she couldn't care less if she was yes or no. So what if she liked neat places or to tidy up rooms. That was a _big_ part of her personality and if you didn't like it, then beat it. That was what she thought of it all. 

But there was a slight possibility that she was obsessed with cleaning. She sure did it two times a week and every month the whole place inside and out. Hardly, she ever used the good china or the crystal glasses. Anyway, now wasn't the time to think about how obsessive she was, but now was the time to clean up. Starting with the living room, she moved the couches against the walls and rolled up the large carpet. Now the floor was empty to mob. But before she could dip her hands in the water, she had to take of her engagement ring. She put the precious ring in her jewellery box and then she placed the box back in her drawer.

While she was mobbing the floor, she didn't notice that Ken came home. As usual, he placed his keys on the little table next to the front door, but this time the newly-bought bread as well and hung his coat on the hall-stand. He watched Miyako with delight and crept up to her from behind. He put his arms around her waist, but he scared her in the process and she flung him on the ground, out of reflex, and pushed her wet mob in his face.

Then she saw it was Ken, who _attacked_ her. While she apologized, she threw the mob away, pulled him up by his wrists. "Sorry Ken, I had no idea. But you know better then creeping up to me like that, when you know I took those defence classes with Hikari and Meems."

"Yeah, forgot about that for a moment. You're really strong, you knew that?" he rhetorically asked, while he flushed crimson. "Anyway, let's leave that scene behind us. Euhm… I was about to ask you if you wanted to get a bite to eat before I have to go to work."

"Oh, didn't you go to the bakery?"

"Yes, I did," he replied. "But, I thought we could go have something to eat in a cosy tearoom. You know, just the two of us."

She snuggled in his arms. "You're right, because we will only have a few times to rest when we're going to plan the wedding. But first, I have to go change before we go. Give me five minutes."

"What about the living room?" he asked.

"Just leave it there, I'll continue when you're at work. I'm ready by the way," she came out of the bedroom with proper clothes on, instead of her _cleaning_ clothes. "Hey, how about we go to Meems restaurant tomorrow night, they're open again."

Ken just nodded, it was a good way to celebrate their engagement. Although, it was just this morning she said yes, it already seemed forever, cause Miyako pulled out her bridal book, she had saved since she was twelve which contained all her plans and pictures of flowers, bridal gowns and all the other stuff they have to plan. She even planned to go hunt for a good place tomorrow with Mimi and Hikari.

Ken wondered which one of the two girls would be her maid of honour. His guess went to Hikari, since they have been best friends since kindergarten. But it would be difficult since the girl would be heading back to Odaiba in a day or two. That would be a hard choice for Miyako, his choice was way easier, cause he would go for Daisuke as his best man and Willis and Takeru as his other men thingy, whatever you name that.

"Let's go," Ken held the door open for his soon-to-be-wife.

As they strolled together in the city, they affectionately held each others hands. There were absolutely no signs that they had a huge fight the last two days. Thank God, they both thought, as the rest of their little gang would be as well if they would tell them, because they were far too perfect for each other to fight like that.

Suddenly, they heard yelling from the other side of the street and since they were curious to see who was fighting like that, they watched a brown-haired girl walk ahead of a blond guy, who was desperately trying to talk to her. But the two came familiar to them, as they looked closer, they saw it was Hikari and Willis.

"Hikari!" Miyako interjected.

Finally, Hikari stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Miyako's voice. Willis caught up with her now and panted. "Kar, I didn't know you could walk that fast. Can you tell me what happened back in there?"

But he got no answer, she just crossed the street to go to Miyako. Willis grumbled and followed her anyway.

"Kar, what's the matter?" Miyako inquired concerned.

"Yeah, are you going to tell us or what?" Willis, on the other hand, asked more roughly than concerned. Which made him receive angry glares by Miyako and Ken.

Hikari pressed her lips in a thin line. She didn't feel like talking about the _event_. Now, she began to feel slightly guilty, although not much, because she still meant what she said. Mimi shouldn't have tried to boss her around like that. Sighing deeply, she blurted. "Mimi acted like a total bitch! Is that what you needed to know?"

"Why was she a bitch?" Ken informed, though disappointed cause he wanted to be alone with Miyako.

Hikari exploded. "Cause she was interfering with my love life! She was telling me to tell Takeru about my feelings and she thought I'm having a thing with Willis. Which I don't, but if I did then it still wouldn't be any of her business! I can't believe her, like her love life is all that fantastic!"

"Kar, listen to me. Go to Meems' apartment, have a nice bath and relax," Miyako suggested her wisely. "If she comes back, then you're calm enough to talk this through."

Closing her eyes, she nodded. "Okay, I'll have a nice, relaxing bath. Willis, call me tonight and sorry about today."

Willis pecked her on the cheek. "Don't be sorry, and I'll call you tonight. You know what, I'll walk you home."

The pair said their goodbye to the soon-to-be-wed, but when they turned around to go to Mimi's apartment, Miyako exclaimed. "We're getting married!"

Hikari clasped her hands together and it was like the quarrel with Mimi never even occurred. "Oh my gosh, you said yes! Congratulations, I'm so glad for you two. Finally, one of us three girls has success in her love life. But I got one question: where's the ring?"

Cocking an eyebrow, Ken lifted Miyako's right hand, which truly lacked a ring. Both the eyes of the couple widened and they were speechless. Miyako's mind was filled with questions of were the ring could be, but she had absolutely no clue. How could she lose something so important?

"Sorry, Ken, I think I have to cancel our lunch to search the ring." Miyako thought aloud.

Ken sighed. "That's okay, I'll help you search."

* * *

Yamato couldn't believe what his manager was telling him. There was no reasoning with the man. Why his boss was angry with him, was a riddle for him. Frustration, he could understand, but anger, that wasn't necessary. 

"Ishida, what the hell were you thinking?" his manager, Kido Jyou, hissed. "You- … You knew about the deal from the beginning and yet, you managed to break it."

"I'm sorry, but I-…," Yamato tried to explain but got interrupted.

"Silence. I don't want to hear a word from you right now, unless I ask you something. As I was saying, you broke our deal. You weren't supposed to get involved with women right now, cause single men score better with the fans. And yet, you fell in love with this _mystery woman,_ according to the magazines, and now the whole country will read about this. I hope you're happy!"

Even though, his manager was only a year older than him, he sure knew how to dictate. Kido Jyou was a pure business man, no emotions, no feelings, just business mattered to him. That was certainly the main reason why the man still hadn't had a woman for longer than a week. Although he wasn't unattractive, he was a tall man with long blue hair that waved against his neck, his eyes were a tint lighter than his hair colour and he wore round glasses. It was his personality that sure made him unattractive, it wasn't his looks.

However, he was a fun guy to hang around with when he wasn't thinking about business. Yamato knew because he went to bars with him since Jyou became his manager and when the man loosened up, he sure was a great companion.

"Jyou, I really care for Mimi and I'm not going to give her up," Yamato countered.

"I don't give a damn about you're feelings! This isn't a game, you know what can happen because of this little romance of yours. Your career depends on your status, women love single artists more than those who are settled."

"That's not entirely true. There are lots of artists who are settled and still have that success. Look at actor Kimura Yuki, he is married to the other star Gotoh Naomi."

Jyou contradicted. "Yeah, but when he got famous he was single and so was she. Now, they are Japanese sweethearts, they are exceptions."

"Say what you want, Jyou. But I'm not going to choose between my career and Mimi," Yamato retorted.

"You may have to."

Yamato frowned. "Then, I choose Mimi."

"What!" Jyou yelled. "Are you out of your mind? Do you realize that this is going to affect your career? What about your fellow Wolves? They need you to perform, to write the songs and to sing them."

"Well, that's your problem now, not mine," Yamato pointed out and was about to leave, but Jyou stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"Yamato, maybe you don't have to choose."

"Well, then convince me to stay," Yamato sneered. "Because, I like Mimi and I'm not giving her up. And I can go to another manager who is willing to let me decide for myself. Cause as you know, I read those magazines myself and they say that I'll be the next number one. With or without you that is."

"Fine, I'll give you more money. I'll be lenient with every song text, the cursing words that is, and you'll get your own dressing room. How about that?" Jyou compromised.

Yamato nodded. "I like the sound of all that, but I need you to make a contract. No hard feelings, buddy. But business is still business. You of all people should know that, right?"

"Fine, I'll make your stupid contract," Jyou grumbled and took out a pen and paper. Then, he began to write everything he said to Yamato to cause him to stay with the Wolves. When he was done, Yamato signed the paper and made it official.

"It's nice doing business with you, Mr. Kido," Yamato chuckled.

"Whatever."

"So, when are we touring again?" Yamato asked, changing the topic.

"To be exact, in two days. You have enough time to spend with your girl, if that was what you needed to know. Besides, it will only last three or four months, maybe less time. So, you will be back to her soon."

Yamato smiled. "Thanks. I'm sorry about the contract and all, I don't need my own dressing room. More money I like."

"I know, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have forced you to make a choice. But you know how I become when it's all business," Jyou smiled back.

"That's why we need to hook you up with someone!" Yamato quipped.

Roughly, Jyou shook his head. "No, no. Don't, please. If I want a girl, then it has to come spontaneously. Blind dates mostly don't work out. And I should know, I had a lot of those."

"But, you should prevent to _not_ end up a grumpy old man with a bunch of cats. Or only with memories of doing paper work. You ought to explore the world."

Then, there was silence. A brief silence, since Jyou broke it quickly.

"Do you really like her that much? Is she really worth giving up your career?"

Yamato didn't need time to ponder on those two questions, he simply replied. "Yes, she is worth more than that."

* * *

Hikari sighed. After she took her nice relaxing bath, Taichi thought it would be nice to talk to his sister, hence he called her when she was drying her hair. 

Sure, they were close and talked about everything, they held no secrets for each other but _sometimes_, wait she corrected her thoughts, _lots of times_, she just wanted to strangle her brother with her bear hands. Off course that would be difficult since she was in Kyoto and he in Tokyo.

Closing her eyes, she kept listening to Taichi's non-stop babbling about his big promotion on work, well it wasn't a promotion really, it was quite something else in fact. If you're the boss of a company, it's difficult to get promotion. Tired of hearing his jabbing, she interrupted him. "Taichi, that's all swell, but can I talk too?"

Even though, she couldn't see him blushing on the other end of the line, she figured he would be since he wasn't really the babbling type. "Sure, sis, go ahead. Tell me what you have been doing these past few days."

Gratefully that he wanted to listen to her, she began her story. "Well, Ken and Miyako are getting married! They told me earlier this day."

"I've always known those two will get hitched," Taichi commented.

"Yeah, I'm so happy for them. They really belong together, you know. But I have to admit that I'm slightly curious who Miyako's going to pick for her bridesmaid," she said that last part more to herself, but she continued. "Anyway, Willis has come to visit us again, tough it is more for being here for Ken and all."

"Can you say him greets from me?"

Hikari nodded. "Okay, it will be the first thing I say to him tomorrow, when I'll take him to the Kinkakuji."

Taichi cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sightseeing with him? Does Takeru know that you're spending this much time with Willis? Cause you know Willis right, he does chase everything that wears a skirt."

"Don't you start on me as well!" Hikari grunted, while rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"What I meant was that today Meems also bugged me about it," Hikari scowled. "She had the nerve to interfere with my love life! I mean-… her love life isn't so great as she think it is. She's developing this wonderful relationship with Takeru's older brother, but somehow she manages to still push him away. It's like she doesn't want to be with anyone, that she wants to stay alone. Since you left her, she has been doing nothing but moping around. Thankfully, Yamato brings some peace in her life now."

Taichi blanched and hummed, while he lowered his head.

The second he hummed, Hikari's eyes widened double its size. How could she be so dumb? She, of all people knew how Taichi felt about her, and here, she talked about how Mimi was in love again, with someone else.

She whispered. "I'm so sorry, Taichi. I should have kept my big mouth shut."

"No, it's alright. I can handle it," he hushed, but she could hear the sorrow in his voice. "I'm happy for her. She deserves someone who will be there for her, no matter what. Anyway, I personally agree with Mi. If you love Takeru, then you'll have to tell him."

"I can't, I'm too chicken."

"Hikari, that's not the sister I know. My sister doesn't back away for any shit! Now, I understand it's not easy, but I'm almost positive he loves you back. And the only way to find out for sure is to tell him. However, it's your choice whether you tell him or not, but I think you were a little too harsh on Mi."

Hikari thought about it. Although Mimi shouldn't have tried to boss her around, she was trying to save her the pain and guide her through this entire complication.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

Perhaps, she was a bit too rough on her friend. She shouldn't have exploded on her like that. But on that moment, she was frustrated from it all and she was pissed of. But right now, she had regrets for yelling at Mimi. She should-… no, she must patch things up with her. Since forever, they have been _good_ friends, then when Mimi hooked up with her brother, they became _great_ friends and after Sora, Mimi's _ex_-best friend, had done that terrible, inexplicable thing to her, they even became _best_ friends. She sure didn't want to lose her friendship with her.

"You're right, you're absolutely right. Even tough, she was a little too judgemental for my taste, she had a point and I shouldn't have said those nasty things to her. I hope I didn't blow up our friendship," Hikari frowned.

Taichi comforted her. "Just talk about it with her and explain your side of the story, _calmly_ that is. She'll understand, she cares too much about you."

"I'll take your advice, I'll settle things straight with her. How's Kou-…," the doorbell interrupted Hikari. "Taichi, can you wait? Someone's at the door."

Before he could reply, she already put her cell phone down without hanging up and opened the door. As she opened it, it revealed an angry Mimi. She pushed past Hikari when she stormed in her own apartment, Hikari guessed the anger made her forget to use her key.

Hikari took a deep breath. "Meems, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have said all those things. I know you mean well, but I am a big girl now, I can handle my problems. Sometimes, I do need help and I know you're always there for me, like I'm always there for you."

"I don't believe you, you little wench! How dare you hide it all from me?" Mimi screamed loudly at her companion, it was so loud, almost whole Kyoto could hear her.

"What are you talking about?" questioningly, Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! Koushirou told me all about Taichi, at least he had the guts to tell me. I have the right to know!"

"Wait, Koushirou told you? Is he here?"

Mimi hissed. "Yes, he is here for some business with Takeru. But that's not the point, why didn't you tell me?"

"I was scared of your reaction and I didn't want to put you through that," Hikari explained.

Mimi sank down on her knees and Hikari rushed to hold her. While stroking Mimi's hair to comfort her, Hikari rocked her back and forth gently. Mimi laid her head on Hikari's shoulder and began to cry.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you back then in the ice cream parlour," Hikari apologized. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you Taichi got engaged with Sora."

After that comment, the crying stopped immediately and Mimi raised her head with a horrified look. "What?"

"Taichi got engaged to Sora," Hikari frowned. "That was what I had been hiding from you."

Abruptly, Mimi shook her head. "No, that can't be happening."

"Didn't Koushirou tell you that?"

"No, he didn't," Mimi barely whispered from the shock.

Hikari felt guilty. What was wrong with her lately? Everywhere she opened her mouth, she made a big mess. Why in Gods name couldn't she keep secrets for herself or her own thoughts? Now, she was the cause of Mimi's pain. Even tough, she finally got over Taichi, it's still not easy to hear news like that from your ex. Hikari couldn't picture what Mimi was going through right now, it was bugging her that she had to break her the news. But if that wasn't what Koushirou told her, then why was Mimi so mad at her?

She didn't want to ask her, but she had to. "Meems, what did Koushirou tell you about Taichi?"

"When are they going to wed?" was the response.

"They haven't decided yet," Hikari would ask her later to find out what Koushirou told her. Wisely, she chose to dismiss that _topic_ for now. Or maybe, he would tell her later himself.

"Okay, well say congratulations to them from me," Mimi plastered a fake smile on her face, which was already smeared with tears. "But tell them to at least invite you guys, instead of ignoring you like Koushirou did because of me."

Hikari swung her arms around Mimi to show her her empathy. "Meems, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. If only I stopped loving him, then it wouldn't ache so bad."

"You still love him?" Hikari inquired.

Sadly, Mimi nodded. "To be honest, yes, I do. I'm still in love with him. After all those years, after all that betrayal, I still can't make my feelings disappear."

Seeing Hikari's sympathetic look, Mimi plastered another phoney smile on her face. "Well, like I said before, send him my congrats when you call him. I'm going for some fresh air before I head to work. It would do me some good."

"Sure, when I _call_ him," Hikari's eyes widened after her own remark. She could have swore right there, she forgot about the not-hanging-up-on-Taichi's-call part. That meant _he_ heard their entire conversation. The minute Mimi was out the door, she brusquely grabbed her phone. "Taichi, are you still there?"

A long pause.

That meant no good.

Frustrated, she repeated her question. It was like he woke up from a dream, cause he answered woozy. "Yeah, I'm here. Did she just say, she still _loves_ me?"

Hikari ran a hand through her hair. "Yes, she did."

Another long pause.

That _definitely_ meant no good.

* * *


	7. Chapter Six

**Love From The Past **

**Chapter Six**

**

* * *

**He had always felt this strong connection between her and him, like they were destined to be together. Every time he saw her, he wanted to grab her and kiss her for eternity. AU/Romance 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

_"What is the matter with you lately?"_

_"Nothing!" she yelled but then calmed down. "Absolutely nothing, okay?"_

_"That's not nothing," he responded bitterly._

_"Don't do this, please. I can't go through all of this."_

_"I love you and I know you love me too."_

_"I-… I-…"_

_"Why? Why can't you come with me?"_

_"I don't love you," she answered with her eyes closed._

_"Look at me and say it in my face," he ordered. "It's the only way to find out if you're telling the truth."_

_She looked up and couldn't hold his gaze. It was too much for her, it was overwhelming. Especially, since she loved him so much but she couldn't be with him. They were destined for each other and still, it was impossible to be together._

_That's why she couldn't look him straight in the eye. It ached too much, her heart bled_ _from the pain. When she looked at him in his beautiful sea blue eyes, she couldn't lie. But she didn't have another choose, she was her husbands property and if she left with him then he would haunt her down till eternity. Even though her heart lied with her lover, she couldn't let him have it._

"No, no, no!" Takeru yelled, while he erased the entire passage on his computer. "This stinks!"

Putting his head in his hands, he exhaled loudly. He didn't find enough inspiration to end his novel. Normally, he found no trouble writing an end to one of his novels, but this time was different. This story was his greatest so far and he didn't want to spoil it just because of the ending. Maybe, he had to go outside and pick up some inspiration.

Lately, Takeru was zooming out a lot. He didn't even know the reason why, but he found himself daydreaming more and more. It was like he was living in a fantasy world that he created, instead of the real world.

The weirdest thing about his daydreams was the fact that they were all about Hikari. Not only the daydreams but his night dreams as well.

He couldn't help it but he realized he had fallen for the girl, he always had but he suppressed his feelings for her (since he always thought she never felt the same way). But now, all his feelings came to the surface. That's why he called Koushirou –out of all people- to talk about this. He didn't want anyone else to know and he wanted to talk to someone who was rational and responsible about it. The only person he could come up with was Koushirou, cause Ken and Miyako were having problems (he saw it in the restaurant), Mimi would have told Hikari the minute after he would have told his story, Daisuke himself was in love with Hikari so no use in telling him either and Yamato was busy with his band and Mimi. Besides, he knew Koushirou and they still phoned each other a lot since he left to Tokyo with Taichi and Sora. Another thing was that Koushirou had a wonderful marriage with Kasumi, so he could give him good love advice.

However, Koushirou already dropped by and Takeru only kept avoiding the issue and the actual reason why he called up Koushirou. What he did instead, was postpone the conversation till the next day, which was tonight.

But that were worries for tonight, right now he had to focus on the ending of his novel. Most of the time when he needed inspiration, he went to Hikari and found it right away. Without knowing herself, she was his muse because his love for her was so strong that he felt like he was capable in everything. He had always felt this strong connection between her and him, like they were destined to be together. Every time he saw her, he wanted to grab her and kiss her for eternity. But he was a timid boy, so that would never happen except in his dreams.

This time, however, he didn't go to Hikari for some ideas. He needed to talk to Koushirou first before he could look her in the eyes again. Originally, he wanted to go to Yamato, but he was busy today discussing the tour with his band and manager, and he had a date with Mimi this evening (well, it wouldn't be a real date, since she had to work again tonight). Therefore, he went to his buddy, Ken.

He rang the bell twice, that way he was sure Ken would hear it. Takeru knew that Ken was home today since it was Saturday and that was (together with Sunday) Kens day off. At last, Ken opened the door. "Hey, Takeru. What a coincidence, I was just about to call you to come over."

Takeru walked in the living room together with Ken and saw Daisuke sitting on the couch. The maroon-haired boy stood up the moment he saw Takeru and the boys gave each other a hug. They all sat in the living room. Ken offered Takeru a drink, but the blond boy just shook his head.

"Dai, it's been a while. Good to see you again," Takeru spoke.

"Yeah, I guess I haven't seen you since Ken proposed to Miyako in the restaurant," Daisuke blanched after his own comment and he received a death glare from Takeru. Furiously, he blushed and tried to apologize to Ken for his big mouth. "Ken, I'm so sorry. Me and my big mouth-…"

"Don't be," Ken reassured with a smile.

Takeru and Daisuke gazed at each other with a startled look. Then Takeru asked Ken. "You do know that Miyako said that she didn't know if she wanted to marry you and that you ran away from us?"

Kens smile changed into a grin. "Yeah, I remember that scene all too well. But, two days later, we talked things through and on that moment she made up her mind. So, allow me to tell you guys the good news: Miyako and I are getting married!"

"For real?"

"Yes, Dai, for real. I already gave her an engagement ring and she is looking for a wedding place with Mimi as we speak."

Takeru smiled. "I'm so happy for you two. I have always known you two would be the first to get married, after Koushirou, from our little gang."

"Wow, that was some good news. Let's celebrate this, open a bottle of champagne or something," Daisuke cheered.

Ken was amused with Daisukes behaviour. "Dai, I'm glad you enjoy the news, but you don't have to overreact."

"But I-… I just want to celebrate the good news," the other boy just muttered.

"And is there a better way to celebrate something without champagne?" Takeru added. "Come on, Ken. You are engaged, that is a pretty important step in life."

Ken sighed, there was no discussing with the successful writer and the noodle man. Then, he got a brilliant idea. "How about we all celebrate this with the entire gang? That way it's going be a _real_ celebration."

"That is an excellent thought," Takeru complimented, while Daisuke nodded to confirm Takeru's comment.

"Fine, I'll tell Miyako, _my fiancée_, when she gets home. We'll call the entire gang, Mimi and Yamato may come too if he wants, Hikari, Willis, you two, Koushirou, Sora and Taichi-…"

Everyone's eyes widened after those two names came out of Ken's mouth.

Ken smacked his head mentally. "Sorry, I guess I still consider them as a part of the gang."

"It's nothing, I too sometimes have the tendency to talk about them as a part of the group," Daisuke hushed.

"Let's forget about it. You know, I can tell Hikari if you want me to. I was planning on going to her tomorrow before I spend the day with Yamato. It's his last day here, so he wanted to spend it with me," Takeru said.

Daisuke smirked. "Hikari, huh? Why am I not surprised?"

Takeru raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying, Motomiya?"

"Nothing," Daisuke replied with an innocent face.

"If you tell Hikari, then you can probably tell Willis too. Those two are doing everything together these last days. They haven't left each others side since Willis came-…," Ken got interrupted by a nudge of Daisukes elbow.

"Are they a couple now?" Takeru inquired with a hint of sadness.

Ken waved his hands, now realising what he had done. "No, no, she is showing him buildings in Kyoto here, just sightseeing that's all."

"Oh," was all Takeru could think of to respond. He absolutely didn't sound convinced by Kens attempt to recover his mistake.

Takeru scraped his throat. "Well, they are only friends. I was there when we visited him in New York. Euhm, I have to get going now, I have to finish my novel. So, call me when you settle a date for the celebration."

Without a handshake or a hug, Takeru left his friends with only receiving a goodbye. He was exaggerating, Hikari didn't love Willis, he knew that. Hell, even Daisuke stood a better chance with her than Willis.

He walked through the park on his way home, enjoying the sight and the weather, which was getting better and better these days (still not warm enough to only wear a t-shirt but it was warmer than usual). All of the sudden, he knew how he was going to end his novel. Perhaps, he should go to the park more often if he needed inspiration.

Now, he understood why Mimi and Taichi came here a lot when they were together. When he would be courageous enough to tell Hikari what he felt for her, and if she felt the same way then he would take her here too for some romantic dates.

He began to fantasize about Hikari and him again, he really ought to stop doing that. He ought to take action, but he was too scared of getting crushed by Hikari. Gently, he shook his head to make himself stop from wandering from the real world again. But it didn't help much, he felt like he was in heaven when he daydreamed about her.

But the newly sight in front of him, snatched him away from heaven and dropped him in hell. What he witnessed now, was the last thing on Earth he ever wanted to see. He had the feeling he was going to vomit any second, he was that repulsed by the sight. Tears prickled his eyes and his heart was shattered to million pieces. So much for love being so wonderful.

* * *

"Finally, you showed up!" Miyako exclaimed. "Was about time, actually. I'm waiting here for more than twenty minutes now." 

Tired, Mimi rolled her eyes. She definitely wasn't in the mood for Miyako's outbursts right now. All these emotions were haunting in her head since the other day, cause of her little conversation with Hikari about Taichi's future plans. She was about to have a migraine attack any second and she didn't need Miyako to help erupt it. Her head was aching even more, cause she didn't have any sleep that night. All night long, she was thinking about Sora and Taichi saying 'I do.' for one other in front of the aisle, in front of all those witnesses, in front of their family and friends and even in front of God.

Why couldn't she let go?

Why, even after all those years, couldn't she accept the fact that her and Taichi were through?

Last but not least, why couldn't she just move on?

She swallowed her worries away for the moment. Nonetheless, she was glad Miyako called her and Hikari yesterday night, even though it was very late, that she wanted to go hunt for a beautiful wedding place (typical Miyako to plan something with somebody else before asking the other ones permission). Actually, Mimi wasn't so pleased that she heard the good news through the phone, while Hikari received the news more personally. The request from Miyako came a little late, but she moved whatever stupid plans she had to do as a favour for her best friend. Even though, she didn't have much choice cause Miyako insisted on the phone it had to be done the next day, so here she stood with Miyako, waiting for Hikari.

"So, when is Hikari going to arrive?" Mimi asked.

"Oh, she called forty minutes ago, she can't make it. She planned on _sightseeing_ with Willis."

Mimi raised an eyebrow. "Is it my imagination, but is she spending a lot of time with him?"

"Meems, don't start again!" Miyako gave her a death glare. "You know what happened the last time, you intervened with her life, so don't dare to go there again."

"Right, sorry," she mumbled and lowered her head, to cover up her sad look.

"Is something bothering you?"

Quickly, she gazed at Miyako, who looked concerned and to reassure her that everything was okay, she softly shook her head with a small smile. "Of course not. So, will we be going or what?"

Miyako cheered. "Yes!"

So after their brief talk, they stepped inside the building to eye the wedding rooms. Once they were inside, they were amazed by the fanciness and the well-decorated room. Being in the first room to check, Miyako suddenly snickered.

"What's so funny?"

"It's rather stupid than funny, but the stupidity makes it funny. Do you catch my drift?"

"In a weird way I understand what you're implying," Mimi admitted. "But what's so _stupid _then?"

"Well, yesterday in the afternoon, I was busy with my monthly big cleaning and for that I had to take off my engagement ring. Later, Ken asked me to get a bite to eat, together since he had to go to his work later on. I found it an excellent idea and I changed into more proper clothes, but in the progress, I forgot to put my ring back on. While we were on the way to a nice restaurant, we saw Hikari and Willis. So as polite as we are, we went to say hey and all that."

"Is then when you told Hikari about the engagement?" Mimi asked, while she interrupted Miyako's story.

"Yes, so as I was saying-…"

Mimi interrupted her again. "Wait, so that means Willis knows too?"

"Yeah, well as I was say-…"

"How come Willis knew before me!" Mimi shouted and apparently, didn't allow Miyako to finish her story. "I was kind of upset that you told Hikari before me, but Willis, come on."

Miyako rolled her eyes, and remanded with an irritated tone. "Meems, don't be so sentimental. Jeez, so what I told you _third_? You are one of my best friends, I'm already glad that you know the good news. Besides, I blurted it out, when I actually planned on telling Hikari and you together on the same moment as the first ones."

Shyly, Mimi smiled. Sometimes she could be so silly over little things.

"As I was saying-…," Miyako repeated for the umpteenth time. "After we said hey to Hikari and Willis, I blurted out that Ken and I are going to get married. They said their congrats, but Hikari noticed that there was no ring on my finger. I was in total panic. Thus, Ken and I went back to the apartment to search the ring. Everywhere, in all little corners and underneath everything, we had searched but no single sign of the ring. We decided to stop the search party because Ken had to go to work and all. But the funny part is that when we went to bed, I took of my jewellery and then put them in my box, I saw my engagement ring shimmering in the box."

Mimi nodded. "Yeah, that is a _stupid_ story. What else can we expect from you?"

"Haha, very funny," Miyako retorted.

"What do you think of the room?" Mimi asked, dismissing the previous topic.

Glancing around the room, she wrinkled her nose a bit. It seemed the ball room wasn't her type, it was written all over her face. Without ever admitting it, Miyako was picky. Everything had to be and had to go perfect according the purple haired girl.

"I kind of like it, but-… It isn't what I'm looking for."

Mimi muttered. "You never know what you are looking for. No one ever does."

Again, Miyako got annoyed with Mimi's behaviour. "What's the matter with you? I'm used of your little sarcastic jokes, but now, it's just rude and insulting. I'm sorry if I want my wedding to be perfect and that I don't think this room is up to my standards of perfection."

A salesman overheard their conversation and stepped up to Miyako and Mimi. It was a man, possibly three or four years older than Mimi, who was bald with a stubbly beard. He was entirely dressed in black, a turtleneck and casual pants, even his shoes were black. Only his name tag was white and the name 'Hoshi' was written on it. He spoke to them, before Mimi could apologize to Miyako.

"Ladies, if you allow me to help you, then maybe you will find the perfect room," he spoke in such a polite manner, that you had to accept his help that he wanted to offer. But that was what salesmen did, to try and convince you to buy or rent a purchase.

Miyako shrugged. "Fine by me."

"I take it you're the future bride?" Hoshi smirked, while Miyako bobbed her head in affirmation. "Explain to me what you want in a room."

"Well, I would love to have a light tint of colour on the walls. Not small, but not too big either. Actually, I have to see the place to know if it's perfect yes or no. Because I stink at giving directions."

"I understand. Why don't I give you girls a tour around the building?"

"That isn't necessary. We are perfectly able to look around the rooms thank you," Mimi gave a quick response. Besides, she was pretty sure Hoshi would trick Miyako into renting a room she didn't even like and she wanted to prevent that.

Hoshi swallowed his newly-found anger towards Mimi away and plastered a fake smile on his deceiving face. "Fine, I can only offer the help. Have a nice day, ladies."

Then, he walked away and quickly found a new couple to '_help_' and to show around the building.

"Why did you do that for?" Miyako practically screamed her lungs out at Mimi. "What is it with you today? Why are you being so cynic today? I'm supposed to have a great time looking for a room to wed with my beloved Ken and you ruin this whole experience for me! Did I do something to you to deserve this?"

A sigh escaped Mimi's lips. "No, you didn't do anything. It's not your fault, really. I just-… taking out my sorrow on you."

"Why are you sad? Perhaps, I can help you."

"Nobody can help me with this."

"You don't know that if you don't try," Miyako protested. "I'm your best friend, I want to be there for you."

"How ironic, cause Sora was my best friend too and I trusted her. Look where that got me," Mimi murmured.

* * *

**Flashback **

"Hey Meems!" Sora greeted cheerily, when she shoved on the opposite side of the table in the school cafeteria.

The red haired girl gently placed her tray in front of her, which contained Yaki-Soba, a coke and an apple as dessert. Mimi, on the other hand, just had a salad, a diet coke, an apple and an orange.

Mimi didn't even notice Sora sitting on the other end of the table, she just kept poking her slice of tomato with her fork.

"I think the tomato is dead by now, Meems," Sora joked.

The only response she got, was a sigh from the younger girl. Sora and her had been best friends since two years, when Koushirou introduced Mimi to Sora and Taichi. So, they knew each others likes, dislikes, quirks, tics,… simply everything. As for now, Sora could see there something troubling Mimi (although, the entire cafeteria could see, since the girl was usually very perky). The girl had been acting weird for the past week, only now it was on its worst.

"Meems, what's wrong?"

Mimi glared wide-eyed at Sora for a second, because she lowered her head down again immediately.

"Nothing," Mimi whispered.

Sora rolled her eyes. "I know when something is bothering you. Whatever it is, you can confide in me."

Before Mimi could say what was on her mind, Koushirou and Taichi arrived at the table with their food. Also with their usual loudness, they seated themselves next to the girls, Koushirou next to Sora and Taichi next to Mimi.

"How did you do on your mathematics test, Meems?" Koushirou asked.

"Not too fabulous, but at least it was better then my geometry test the first period," Mimi grinned. "I bet you probably aced both of them."

Koushirou blushed in a very cute way. "I don't want to boast or anything, but they went pretty well."

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention but I can't go to the movies tonight. Got tennis practice and after that I have to help my mother in the flower shop," Sora shared.

"What! I cancelled my soccer practice so I could go tonight. Sorry, Sor but I'm still going. Unless you two can't go with me. I certainly am not planning on going by myself," Taichi wailed.

"I can."

"But I can't," Koushirou remarked. "Computer."

"Oh," Taichi mouthed, but then smiled at Mimi while putting his arm around her. "Guess, it's just the two of us tonight, Mi."

Mimi flushed crimson, and giggled awkwardly. "Guess so, huh."

Taichi and Koushirou continued their meals, while the previous scene didn't go unnoticed by Sora. She never saw Mimi behave like that when Taichi hugged her, so something was fishy about that. Narrowing her eyes, she decided to confront Mimi with it when Taichi and Koushirou weren't around. But looking at Taichi's plate, which was stacked with food (man, that boy could eat like a horse) and since Koushirou always waited for him to go to class together, it would take a while before they left. Therefore, Sora came up with an excuse.

"Meems, can we eat outside? I need to get some fresh air or else I'm going to faint any minute now."

"Sure, Sor," Mimi replied.

Koushirou inquired concerned. "Do we need to go with you?"

"No, that isn't necessary," Sora hushed.

Once the girls sat down at a bench outside, again opposite each other, Sora demanded. "What was that?"

Mimi blinked. "What was what?"

"That blushing and giggling inside the moment Taichi touched you."

"Oh that,-… nothing, really."

"Meems, I don't remember you acting like that when he touched you, even when he kissed you on the cheek," Sora raised an eyebrow. "Oh my God, is that why you are acting all weird this week? Do you have a thing for _Taichi_?"

Mimi pressed her lips in a thin line and paused, for a long time actually. Which was enough evidence for Sora that she was correct.

"I see," Sora spoke just on an audible tone.

Mimi looked away. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, Sor. I was confused, I didn't know what to do or say. But now I have realised that I have certain feelings for him. I should have told you earlier because you are my best friend and I trust you. Actually, I'm glad I got this of my chest now. Thanks, for listening, Sor, you are the greatest."

"I won't be to sure about that," Sora muttered.

Mimi frowned to signal that she didn't understand what Sora was implying. Thus, Sora continued. "If you confide in me, then I have to confide in you as well… The problem is, I love Taichi too."

Mimi blanched. "What?"

"I too realised I have feelings for him."

"Then, I guess we've became rivals on winning his heart."

"Yeah, so may the best woman win," Sora hissed.

**End Flashback**

* * *

"Why are you bringing Sora up? I thought you were over-…" 

"They are getting married!" Mimi snapped.

Miyako barely whispered. "What? Who?"

"Taichi and Sora. Hikari told me the other day."

"Meems, I'm so sorry. I had no idea, are you going to be alright?"

"Am I going to be alright, you ask?"

"I care about you and I want-…"

"Nobody cares about me!" Mimi exploded all of the sudden. Even though, she exploded with rage, she was on the verge to cry. "All I ever receive in my life is deceive and hurt. I'm so sick of it all. Taichi cared about me too and he hurt me the most out of everyone."

"Don't you dare think that we don't care about you!"

"What else should I believe, Miyako?" Mimi burst into tears and Miyako rushed to hold her.

"Listen to me carefully," Miyako soothed the girl by stroking her hair. "I know what Taichi and Sora did to you was very inhuman but it's time to let go of that part in your life."

"I can't, I tried but I'm not capable of doing so."

"Yes, you are. You are one of the strongest women I have met, and I believe in you. So does Hikari, Ken, Takeru, Daisuke and Yamato for that matter. And if you want someone to guide you or comfort you or take your mind of it all, then we will always be there for you."

Finally, Mimi managed to put a genuine smile on her face. She licked her dry lips and wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her sweater.

"Thanks, Miyako. You truly are one heck of a friend."

"You don't have to flatter me, but I know I am," Miyako kidded.

"Shoot, I have to get ready for my date with Yamato tonight," Mimi realised.

"But don't you have to work tonight?"

"Yeah, unfortunately I do. However, Yamato and I have decided that I go to work and afterwards we go do something romantic."

"Oh, something romantic," Miyako applauded happily. "What's the occasion?"

"A not very good one, actually. Because he is going to leave the day after tomorrow and since he will be away for about three months, he wants to spend a whole day with Takeru tomorrow. That's why he reserved time tonight for me," Mimi explained.

"Ouch."

"Indeed," Mimi confirmed. "I am going to miss him."

"There, you are going to miss him, so you already have someone else you love. Which is a very firm step in the progress of forgetting the whole Taichi-Sora-affair. Don't worry, he'll come back in three months, that's not as long as it seems."

Mimi doubted silently. "I don't know if I'll ever _forget_."

* * *

"The Kinkakuji was spectacular," Willis said perplexed. 

"I bet it doesn't hold a candle to one of the monuments in New York, though."

"Don't be so gloom, Kar. Kyoto is a magnificent city," Willis countered which made Hikari raise an eyebrow, sceptically. "But you are right, Kyoto is nothing compared to New York, but that's only because they have two totally different styles."

"Good way to justify my statement, Willis," Hikari retorted.

"I'm only pointing out what is true."

Hikari laughed. "Never knew you are so sincere."

"And to think that I always believed that sincerity was Mimi's and Miyako's strongest assets."

"You ponder about that kind of stuff?"

"Don't we all," Willis smirked. "Well, actually, you women always do. Us men, we don't crack our brains about '_who's the prettiest'_ or '_who's the sweetest'_ or _'who has the most perfect teeth'_. But sometimes, we notice those details as well."

"What's my strongest asset?"

A sigh escaped Willis' lips, and he glanced at Hikari. He knew the answer to her question, but he didn't want to tell her. His answer would shock her and that was the last thing he wanted right now. He truly cared for her, he had always found her a unique girl and over these past few days he spent with her, while visiting monuments and while talking about this and that, he realised that he was attracted to her (not in _love_, though). But that was the most frightening part, 'cause he knew to whom her heart belonged to, and he knew he couldn't stand a chance.

He paused to think what he should say instead. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" she questioned intrigued.

"I never thought about yours."

"Okay then, can you tell those of the others?"

"You are really interested, huh?" Willis commented, while Hikari gave him a nod. "Fine, I believe Ken is the kindest, he always thinks of the others and their feelings first. Daisuke cares the most about friendship. His principals are that you never let a friend down, no matter what. Takeru never lets go of hope, he will always look for a way out of any mess. Mimi is the most sincere of the group and Miyako holds the most love in her heart out of everyone."

"Wow," Hikari blinked.

"I know it's silly but I-…"

"No, I think it's adorable. And I agree with everything you said. But I do find it weird that you considered everyone, except for me."

"Yeah, how about those trees in the park? Aren't they… green?"

"Don't change the subject, Willis. Now, you gave me prove that you are hiding something for me and I want to know what that is."

Another sigh.

Staying reluctant of telling her, he looked deeply in her brown eyes and saw the determination in those pools.

"I-… I want to say that I-…," he stammered.

"Yes?"

He scraped his throat and grabbed her hand. Then, he dragged her over to a bench in the park and seated himself and her on it. He found it more comfortable by telling her while they had some privacy in the park on a bench than standing on the pavement.

"There is no easy way in telling you this but I-…," he bit his lower lip out of anxiety.

"Come on, Willis. You can tell me _anything,_" she comforted.

He stayed reluctant.

Then, Hikari intertwined her fingers with his and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Please, I want to know what's troubling you so much for telling me. There is nothing you can say or do that will harm me or make me hate you. You are my friend, so you can trust me," Hikari whispered.

After her soothing words, Willis stood up abruptly which startled Hikari.

"Willis, what's the matter? Did I do something to you?"

"No-… Yes-… I don't know, you made me-…," he stuttered.

She grew concerned of Willis' reactions. "I made you what?"

"You made me want to do this."

Then, he took her face in his hands and pulled in her for a steamy kiss.

* * *


	8. Chapter Seven

**Love From The Past **

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

"I can't be with you if you don't return my love. Without love, there is no future for this relationship. So, I want you to be honest with me, like I was with you. Do you love me?" AU/Romance 

**A/N:** Here is the chapter where all the Mimato fans were waiting for. Enjoy the romance ;)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

"Meems, I need to talk with you." 

Mimi rolled her eyes. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Please, I really need to talk about what happened this afternoon. I need to get it off my chest."

"Can't you talk to Miyako?"

"No, she's out."

"To Ken?"

"No, he's out with Miyako."

"To Daisuke, on the phone?"

"No, not him either."

"To Takeru?"

"No, no, especially not him," she countered with a horrid tone. "You are the only one I can talk to, Meems."

"Can't you wait till I get back, I'm sure that you-…"

"Willis kissed me!" she interrupted while shouting it out.

Mimi's eyes widened. "What? For real?"

Hikari nodded with a sad look.

"I knew that boy was up to no good," Mimi mumbled.

"Don't start _that_ again," Hikari begged, but Mimi opened her mouth to contradict, but Hikari made big puppy dog eyes. Which worked like a charm, because Mimi shut her mouth.

"Okay, tell me what happened exactly between you two," Mimi sighed, putting her make-up back on the sink.

"Well, we went to see to Kinkakuji, which was fun. After that, on her way back home, we walked near the park. We talked about everybody's strongest assets, well what Willis thought of it, actually. He summed everyone up, except for me. Then, I asked him about mine, but he said he never thought of mine before," Hikari explained.

Mimi commented. "Oh, riiiight, he _never_ thought of yours, while he could tell it from everyone else. Like that isn't suspicious!"

"Yeah, I said the same thing to him, but he tried to change the subject. Afterwards, when I confronted him with it, he decided he needed to tell me something important and he led me to a bench in the park. When, we got there, he began to hesitate to tell me what was so important and I soothed him by saying he can tell me anything. He started muttering things and all of the sudden, he _kissed_ me!"

"Hmm," Mimi hummed.

"I don't know why, but I was kissing him back. When I realised I did, I pushed him off me and ran away from him."

Hikari plumped down on the couch. Pulling up her knees underneath her chin and holding her legs with her arms, she bit her lower lip.

"What do I do, Meems?"

"Sweetie," Mimi planted herself down next to her. By putting her arms around her shoulders, Hikari followed the gesture and laid her head on Mimi's shoulders. "I can't answer that question for you. That's something I can't help you with, I'd love to but I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because that is personal, something you have to decide for yourself. I can't make those choices in your place."

Hikari sighed exhaustedly. "I know, I know," she tilted her head up to look directly at Mimi. "I'm so confused."

"I understand if you are, but I believe you have to talk to Willis about this, instead of me," Mimi spoke wisely. "It's a hard task that needs to be done."

"I really wish I didn't have to."

"You have to know why he did that, where he stands and what he wants next. If it is the same thing you want to happen, then you are off the hook. But if he doesn't agree with your terms, then you have to discuss it with him."

"I guess."

Mimi smiled in a supportive way. "Trust me, and listen to my advice."

Hikari pursed her lips together and gave a small nod. She really didn't want to do this, but Mimi was right, she had to know for certain what Willis felt. Maybe, he just did it in the flung of the moment. Maybe, he was confused of what he felt for her, since it had been a long time they had seen each other and with all the time they were being together. And, after the kiss he realised that he felt nothing.

But what if he _did_ feel something?

What if he wanted to become more then friends?

Would she give in to his flirtations?

Would she say no and keep waiting for Takeru to come to her?

She hated that she didn't have an answer to any of those questions. Never in her life she had been _this_ confused. Sure, she loved Willis very much, but not in that way, at least she never thought about him in that way. She compared him to Ken and Daisuke, they were her friends and nothing more. Although, Willis was a different case in comparison to Ken and Daisuke. Ken was Miyako's fiancée, her best friend's fiancée, he would never ever be a dating option and Daisuke, well, Daisuke was Daisuke, he would also never be a dating option for her. But Willis, on the other hand, could be dating material: he was sweet, caring, handsome and smart young man, what more does she wants?

That was a question she could answer.

Takeru.

Willis just wasn't Takeru.

* * *

He knocked rapidly on the pine wooden door. Only a few minutes, he had to wait until someone opened it. 

"Hey, you wanted to see me right away," Koushirou said.

"Yes," Takeru spoke on a sad way, with puffy red eyes. "I hope it's convenient for you. Otherwise, you can come back later."

"No, it's not a bother for me. Tell me why you needed to see me, which I'm guessing is the reason why you cried on the phone earlier."

"Take a seat," Takeru gestured towards the couch. "cause it's going to take a while. Do you need something to drink or eat?" Takeru asked, standing near the door to go inside the kitchen.

Koushirou shook his head softly, signalling he didn't need anything.

"I'll start from the top," Takeru suggested while sitting on the couch across Koushirou.

"That's a good idea."

"Well, I think you should know by now, that Hikari and I are very close. Lately, I developed these _feelings_ for her, I hid them- I _hide_ them for her, for everyone else too. I realised I don't want to be her friend anymore, I want to be more than just her friend."

Koushirou nodded. "I believe you're in love with her."

"I can't be in love with her!" Takeru panicked all of the sudden.

Koushirou was appalled by Takeru's outburst and demanded. "Calm down, there's no use in winding yourself up like that."

"You don't understand-," Takeru snapped. "You don't understand what I'm going through right now," he stood up and started pacing around the living room.

"Then, tell me, so I can understand," Koushirou soothed.

Breathing deep out, Takeru put his head in his hands. Then, he walked to the window and stayed there, remaining quiet. At least, he calmed down by now.

From his window, he had a view on the busy streets in Kyoto. But that wasn't what he saw, the only image that he had in his mind, was Hikari kissing Willis. He couldn't stop thinking about it, it was driving him insane, it was hurting him badly. Even tough, he couldn't blame her, if she had feelings for Willis and if Willis returned those feelings, then he should be the bigger person and accept the fact that she was into some else. But he couldn't do that right now, he needed time. He felt deceived, angry and heartbroken.

He repeated his last phrase, this time he didn't shout but whispered. "I can't love her."

"Why not?" Koushirou inquired curiously.

"Because she doesn't love me," he revealed.

* * *

After her talk with Hikari, Mimi called up Miyako to take the younger girl to the movies. That way, she could blow off some steam and not think about what happened earlier today. 

Mimi didn't know how confused Hikari must be right now.

Looking at Hikari, who was waiting anxiously for Miyako to arrive, she felt horrible for the girl.

What was Hikari supposed to do?

How could Willis put her in that position?

He, of all people, should know who Hikari truly desire. He should know that she had always loved Takeru, but still, he kissed her.

_He kissed her_!

Just like that, out of the blue, impulsively, he kissed her.

But that's not the main problem: _she kissed him back_.

That meant that somewhere, along the line, she felt something as well. If you didn't feel _something_ for someone, then you didn't kiss that someone back. This meant that she was torn between Willis and Takeru. This was a real mess; Hikari didn't know what she felt for Willis, but she did know what she felt for Takeru (she loved him, for Pete's sake!), and she didn't know what Willis _really_ felt for her, and she didn't know what Takeru felt about her.

God, how could things get so complicated?

Mimi could only hope that Hikari would set things straight with Willis, and after that, she would talk to Takeru.

Suddenly, Miyako interrupted Mimi's thoughts. "Hey, Meems. I'll take her to the movies and afterwards, I can talk to her."

Mimi stared at Miyako with a bewildered look.

Miyako rolled her eyes. "Hikari opened the door when I rang the doorbell. She saw that you were deep in thought and that you didn't even realised someone rang the bell. I sincerely hope the movie will cheer her up a bit."

Mimi nodded. "I hope so too," then, she glanced around the room. "Where is Hikari?"

"Oh, she is already in the car. She's so depressed that she doesn't even want to say goodbye."

"I understand. Bye, Miyako. Take good care of her."

"Don't worry, I will," Miyako barely smiled. "Bye."

Once Miyako was out the door, Mimi grabbed her coat and purse to go to her restaurant. Most of her staff was back, so they were reopening again, since two week and a half.

When she got there, she found a very frustrated Osamu, the manager.

"Mimi," he practically yelled at her. "you're finally here!" before she could reply, he got a hold of her shoulders and pushed her inside the kitchen. "How am I supposed to work without my head chef?"

"What about Nina?"

"_What about Nina_?" he repeated while mocking her. "Do you see her in here somewhere?"

Mimi scanned the kitchen, but no sign of Nina.

Where the hell was she?

She was supposed to be there, as the other head chef, she knew how crowded the place would get when they opened after almost a month. But that was the least of Mimi's concern, if Nina wouldn't show, then Mimi couldn't snuck out with Yamato later. She decided to work anyway.

After two whole hours of hard labour in the kitchen, someone walked in.

"Mimi, there's a gorgeous guy who's asking for you," one of the waitresses, Yayoi came to mention to Mimi.

Mimi stared at her in confusion, partly because she listened to half of what everyone was saying to her. It wasn't like that she didn't want to listen, she just couldn't hear what they were saying. One yelled '_gyosa_' at her, someone else shouted '_Egg-rolls and noodles_' and another waiter screamed '_teriyaki_'. A _tring_ from the bell here, another _tring_ there, it was driving her nuts.

"What? Can you repeat that?" she questioned the waitress.

Yayoi scraped her throat, before saying it louder and waited till the other ones were away. Since, that took an awful long time, she stepped into the kitchen to face Mimi.

"I mentioned that a total hottie is asking for you."

Mimi raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Okay, don't freak out, but I recognized him," Yayoi shrilled. "He's the lead singer of the Wolves! And he's _here_, in _this_ restaurant, asking for _you_!"

Mimi groaned. "Right, my date with Yamato. Urgh, I totally forgot!"

"Wait, wait, hold your horses," Yayoi stared at her wide-eyed. "You have a date with Ishida Yamato, _the_ Ishida Yamato and you _forgot_?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that's it. I'm sending him in."

"No, no, don't do that, Osamu will trip!" Mimi attempted to stop her, but it had no use, Yayoi was long gone. Before she could even chase her, Yamato was already inside the kitchen.

"A little busy?" he asked her with a smile.

"Yes," Mimi sighed. "I'm afraid I have to cancel our date. I'm so sorry, Yama."

"What?… Why?"

"Because- Because I have to work. I do have my responsibilities and Nina doesn't show up. I have to do everything by myself around here and I'm- I'm losing my mind!" Mimi gasped for breath after she had rambled on.

"Meems, slow down," he approached her carefully (you never know what a frustrated woman was capable off) and held her in his arms while he affectionately rubbed her back. "Calm down. Maybe, it will help if I have a word with your boss?"

"What?" Mimi was calm now, but what Yamato just said was tempting her anger once more.

"Maybe, I can get you out if I politely ask you boss. Then, you can cool off and relax. Stress isn't healthy."

"Don't you dare talk to Osamu!" Mimi demanded and released herself from Yamato's grip.

Yamato furrowed his brow.

"You don't get it! I can't leave _this_ kitchen without another head chef around. And since, Nina isn't here and since, she doesn't pick up her cell, I'm stuck here all by myself. We just opened again, _I can't leave_!"

After her outburst, she grabbed a cucumber and chopped it into small slices. She shoved all the slices into a bowl with a white, creamy sauce and some parsley as the final touch.

"Meems, don't be so stubborn. Please, it's my last night here in Kyoto and I love to spend it with you. Since I already planned a whole day with Takeru tomorrow, tonight is the last night I can be with you," Yamato pleaded.

Mimi sighed and dropped the knife on the table.

"I know, I know,… I want to spend this night with you too, and I understand that you won't have time for me tomorrow, but-… I have to work, this is really, really important to me."

"I understand completely."

Mimi bit her lower lip. "Thanks," Mimi pecked him on the cheek. "I'm truly sorry, Yama."

"It's okay," he pretended that he wasn't hurt. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow perhaps, and otherwise in three months."

Then, he hugged her again and kissed her very passionately.

"Oh, don't be such a _drama-queen_, Mimi."

Mimi looked up to see to whom the newly-voice belonged to. And what she saw, was a very cheery Yayoi standing there. But to her (fortunate) surprise, she also saw a grinning Nina standing next to Yayoi.

"Nina! I thought you abandoned me here!" Mimi exclaimed.

Nina waved her finger from side to side, disapprovingly. "Now, now, like _I_ would _ever _do that?"

Mimi raised her eyebrow sceptically, which made Nina blush.

"Fine, I did it _once_ on Christmas Eve. But in my defence, I had to do something very important urgently."

"Whatever you say," Yayoi retorted.

"Enough about me," Nina desperately wanted to change the subject. "I believe me being here, is an excuse for you to go out with your adorable man, Mimi," she smirked at Mimi.

"I can't do that to you, it's too crowded tonight, and-…"

"Hush," Nina placed her finger in front of Mimi's mouth. "you are going to do as told. No escaping this time, you are going on this lovely date and I'll take care of everything here. I'll even explain it to Osamu. You just go and have fun!"

Mimi smiled thankfully. "You're the best!" then, she waved Nina and Yayoi goodbye and went out the door with Yamato.

They walked together hand in hand, having a conversation.

"I'm glad Nina came," Mimi admitted.

"Me too."

"Yama, where are we going, actually?"

Yamato had to grin when she asked that question. "It's a surprise."

"Ah, a surprise. Is it a surprise like our first date, going to a karaoke bar?" Mimi inquired rhetorically.

"You'll have to wait and see. As long as you don't complain about '_how your feet are killing you_', like on our first date."

Mimi laughed. "Well, I'm wearing _sneakers_ this time instead of _high heels_, so no complaining this time."

"It's around the corner, so it isn't far anymore."

"Good, because my _legs_ were killing me," Mimi joked.

"Oh, is that so?"

Mimi nodded readily, but she didn't mean it, she was only kidding.

"Okay, then," Yamato said and afterwards, he swooped her up bridal-style. With her in his arms, he carried her around the corner, where they arrived at Yamato's surprise.

It was a beautiful white house, one of those you see on the country-side. The house was secluded, especially because it was surrounded with a two feet tall bushes, and there was a equally tall metal gate. The house had probably about three storeys, there was a balcony above the door and there were two rose bushes standing next to each side of the door.

"Here it is."

Mimi crossed her arms. "It's all wonderful, but _what_ are we doing here?"

"The view isn't the actual surprise," he grinned mischievously. "It's in there where the surprise is awaiting us. We have to climb the gate."

"What?" she was shocked. "I'm not going to climb over the gate!"

"It's not that difficult, besides I'll help you."

"That's not the issue. If we enter their house, isn't that trespassing private property?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, it would be, if I wouldn't know the people who live here. The man who owns this house is my cousin. Do you want to see your surprise now?"

Eagerly and curiously, she nodded and climbed the gate together with him. He leaded her to the garden behind the house, which was magnificent. She was appalled by the beauty. There were various kinds of flowers and plants, the sea-green grass was just mown, a beautiful antique bench standing on the side of the garden and a tropical pool was lying in the centre of the garden. It was absolutely breath-taking.

She ran to the edge of the pool to look at her reflection in the still water. The moon light was glistening in the water, and the cool air breeze was blowing in her honey hair.

"Yama, it's-… so beautiful."

He sat behind her and also gazing at their reflection in the water. Affectionately, he touched his cheek against hers. "It's not as half as beautiful as you."

Out of the blue, Yamato's gaze grew worried. Mimi noticed this in their reflection and asked. "What's wrong?"

"Mimi, I'll be honest with you. I'm afraid of something," he swallowed out of anxiety. "I love you, I love you so much. But-… But I'm scared you still love Taichi and not me."

She didn't answer, which was prove for him that he was correct.

"I can't be with you if you don't return my love. Without love, there is no future for this relationship. So, I want you to be honest with me, like I was with you. Do you love me?"

She paused and looked the other way.

Yamato sighed sorrowful and stood up. He was about to leave her.

"Wait!" she yelled and jumped on him. Which made him stumble and fall into the pool. Now, they were both kicking their legs to keep their heads above water. "Yama, I-… I-…," she closed her eyes, somehow she couldn't say it. For some reason, she was scared of declaring her love for him. "I don't want you to leave."

But it didn't convince him, he swam to the edge and got out of the pool. She followed his exact lead. As he was about to leave, he walked back to her and glared at her intensely.

"Why can't you say it? I know you love me too, but I don't get it why you can't admit it."

She shook her head ever so slightly and stuttered. "I-… I-… I don't-…"

He removed the wet strands of hair, which were covering her eyes, from her face and tucked them behind her ears. Gently, he touched her forehead with his and soothed. "Please, Meems. You are strong, I know that the past is still haunting you, but I want to help you. I love you too much to let you slide away through my fingers."

After his lovingly words, she collapsed in his arms, the salty tears rolled down her cheek and she could taste them with her lips. He tightened his grip on her, just to comfort her.

"I love you, Yamato. I do, I truly do. But I'm scared, I'm so scared everything would end up like what happened with Taichi. It seems I can't let the past go, I can't get _him_ out of my head. And I want to let go, I love you too much."

Yamato rocked her back and forth, waited till she finished her story and then, he held her face with both his hands. Meeting his deep gaze, she didn't fight the urge to place her luscious lips on his. The slow, deep kiss was enticing, it fired up all the desire in each of their loins. He pressed her back on the lush grass; him kissing her neck hard, her rubbing her hands on his chest.

It was a long time ago, since she felt this sparkling, arousing, tempting heath. But she embraced the feeling with open arms.

The chemistry between them was perfect, utterly perfect.

It was almost as perfect as that one day….

* * *

**Flashback**

He went to the right. So, the other player followed him to the right, but he was just misleading the other player, cause he went with a feint to his left and passed by the other player. He swooped the ball with him with an excellent dribble. Nothing could stop him achieving his aim, he ran as fast as his legs could bear to the goal, where the keeper was waiting with anxiety. When he was in front of the goal, there was no player from the other team to stop him. It was a duel between him and the keeper. Once he got a clear view, he gave a firm kick on the ball. The ball passed the keeper, who ducked and fell face flat onto the dirt, and he put the ball in the back of the net.

Score!

The supportive crowd stood up to applaud and cheer for the talented football-player. Now, they were winning with one point and the game only lasted a few more seconds.

Finally, the game was over and the respective teams when to the dressing rooms to shower and change back into their proper clothing. On his way there, the same player was stopped by his friends, who were awaiting him.

A young red-headed boy came up to him and shook his hand while patting his shoulder. "Great footwork, Taichi. You really surpassed yourself this time. The usual is already amazing, but this time it was _prodigious_."

"Thanks, Iz. I really appreciate your complementing," Taichi glowed from the heat. "But I did practice a lot for this game. So, I'm glad it paid off. Oh yeah, I have to thank you, Sora, for practicing with me," he winked at her.

Sora flushed. "It's nothing really, that's what friends are for. Besides, you'll help me practice my tennis," he nodded to confirm his promise, then he asked. "Where are the others?"

Koushirou replied. "They are already outside, so go ahead and take a quick shower, so we can celebrate your victory."

Taichi ran keenly to the showers, planning on taking a quick shower as Koushirou ordered him to and took off his shirt. But when he was about to take off his trousers as well, Mimi came in (with her eyes closed and her hand in front of them, to be safe.) and called. "Taichi? Taichi? Are you in here somewhere?"

He rolled his chocolate eyes. "Yes, I am. You can open your eyes."

"Nobody else in here?"

"No, they are all in the shower right now. We are the only ones in this room."

Mimi fluttered her eyes open and felt relieved that they, in fact, were the only ones. She would have felt embarrassed if his other team-mates were there. Although, she was embarrassed by him being half naked, but she was rather happy with the sight. She never knew Taichi was that muscled! That gave her another perspective of him. She shook her thoughts out of her head, damn her newly-surfacing hormones.

"Meems, I'm sorry to ask. But what are you doing in _here_? Weren't you waiting outside with the others?" he inquired curiously.

Once she was back to Earth and not drooling at his rugged chest, she answered. "Right, I came here to tell you that the others already left to the movies to keep our seats available. I volunteered to wait for you. So, I be at the door, the other side of the door of course, and wait."

She did what she told him and waited, while he showered and changed into his normal outfit. Once he was finished, he announced her his arrival. "I'm done, so are you ready to go?"

Cheerful, she nodded and stuffed her magazine back in her pink purse. Then, they walked arm in arm to the movies to join the others.

"Good game, Tai," Mimi suddenly commented. "I really enjoyed watching you go for it."

Taichi quirked an eyebrow.

Mimi caved in. "All right, all right, I wasn't paying any attention to it. I was reading my magazine. I'm sorry, the next time I'll watch, I mean it. I swear it on my mother's grave."

"Don't apologize. I understand completely. I'm already delighted with the fact you are on the stands to support me in your own little way," He smiled. "You know what. Why don't we ditch the others and go see that over-romantic movie you were so eager to see."

"Cool! You are really something else, Yagami Taichi."

They did what Taichi offered to and went to see that romantic movie. They sat at the back, junked with lots of candy (well, mostly for Taichi.) and silently enjoyed the movie. Mimi found it odd that _Taichi_ suggested _this movie_, he was more in it for action and suspense. She found it even more odd, because it was _his_ celebration. Maybe, she got in touch with Taichi's secret side, a side she was very fond of. This gave her another perspective of him as well.

As the movie grew more and more romantic, she lay her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her back. The moment he touched her, she felt something tingling in her stomach and a heartbeat skipped. She had never felt that when Taichi touched her.

Well, it wouldn't mean anything.

Wouldn't it?

No, it couldn't. Taichi was one of her best friends, she couldn't fall in love with him. _But you do_, a little voice in her head claimed. She frowned at her thinking and tried to ignore her mind. She decided it was for the best to only focus on the movie and nothing else. Now, that was easier said then done, since Taichi leaned towards her to whisper in her ear.

"I have to go to the bathroom, urgently. I'll be back in a jiffy."

His voice was so light, she almost didn't catch his whisper. However, she did and the feeling of his lips so close against her ear, kept lingering. That's it, she really ought to ignore her hormones.

When he came back, she tensed up and attempted to swallow the awkwardness away. But it had no avail. The tension (the _one-sided_ tension.) kept hanging in the room, during the whole movie and even when the movie ended. When they were in the hall-way, they spotted the rest of the group, who were a bit mad at them, especially Sora.

"Where have you two been? You do realize how concerned we were about you. And we waited and waited in the room, no sign. Then, we split up in groups to search for you, still no sign. Then, Koushirou came up with the idea to keep waiting for you here. And how-…"

Sora rambled on, but got interrupted with Taichi. "Sorry, Sor. But we decided we wanted to see that romantic flick. I'm terribly sorry that we abandoned you guys," he gave her his big puppy-sad-look to make her anger disappear.

It seemed to work pretty nicely, since Sora sighed and rolled her eyes. "You big goof, I forgive you but if it happens one more time. Then, may God help me not to-…"

"I got the point, Sora. I'll remember the next time to not let it happen again."

"Okay, let's go home then," Koushirou suggested and he already walked away with Sora. Taichi and Mimi stood there for a little while longer.

"Wow, she let you off the hook easily this time," Mimi remarked.

"Yeah, but I have my methods to make her forgive me," he revealed, he smiled playfully at Mimi and winked at her.

Now, _that_ made Mimi's heart melt and on that moment, she couldn't ignore that little voice anymore.

From then on, she knew that she was in love with him.

**End Flashback  
**

* * *

Finally, she opened her eyes again. She found herself staring right into Yamato's deep blue sea orbs, which she didn't mind at all. The sun was up in the sky and was very bright for her just awoken eyes. The soft green grass was tingling beneath her bare skin. 

"Hey, beauty. Did you sleep well?" Yamato asked her, while he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Mimi moaned, while she stretched out her arms. Tiredly, she bobbed her head. She wasn't really aware of what she was doing or where she was, because she was still fatigued from last night. Last night, had been… amazing, passionately, sometimes a bit rough, but most of all it was _heavenly_. She still had the feeling she was in heaven right now.

"I love you so much. I don't ever want to lose you," he told her sternly.

Mimi shoved over to Yamato and lay herself against him, snuggling into him, then noticing Yamato already found atowel to cover them up. Slightly, she tilled her head up to face him even better.

"You don't have to be afraid, Yama. You are never going to lose me."

He kissed her on the top of her head. "Hearing that makes me the luckiest man on Earth."

Mimi smiled and moved her lips to his. Out of reflex, he rolled on top of her, and kissed her back. She had her fingers in his messy blond hair and he had his hands on her thighs. They would have gone all the way, again for a _third_ time, but they were interrupted when they heard a car pulled up the drive-way.

Yamato jerked his head up, breaking the kiss with Mimi and making a shocked face.

Mimi glared wide-eyed at him. "Is there something the matter?"

"No, no," he frowned and abruptly, stood up. "We just have to get out of here."

Mimi stood up as well and slipped her hands on his neck. Then, she asked coyly. "What's with the rush? I'm really enjoying this-…," but she got interrupted when Yamato lingered his fingers on her lips, signalling her to be quiet.

"Meems, we have to go. I heard a car stopping around here," he took all her clothes and shoved them in her arms, then he took his own clothes as well. He carried his clothes with one arm, so he could use his other hand to get a grip of Mimi's arm, and dragged her with him. "Come on, they can't find us here."

"Why not?" Mimi withdrew her arm, and narrowed her eyes. "You said you know the people who live here and now, you say we have to get out of here, because you heard them coming home. What's up with that?"

Yamato sighed, and answered defeated. "Fine, I lied. I don't know these people, but I knew how this place looked like and I wanted our first time to be special on a romantic spot."

"Oh Yama, anywhere would have been okay with me, as long as you don't lie to me. You can trust me with anything."

"I love you so much, but right now, we have to hide, and because I saw some movement inside," he grabbed her arm and dragged her behind the shed, hurriedly. Behind the shed, they both got dressed only with a little bit of squirming. Yamato peeked from behind the shed and saw a man and a woman pulling up the blinds from inside their house. He waited until they left the window, so he and Mimi could sneak away without getting caught.

As he was still watching the couple, he felt Mimi place her arms around his waist and kiss his shoulder. He couldn't believe that Mimi wasn't upset with him, she was truly a wonderful woman.

Then, he saw the couple retreat from the window, thus away from the sight at the garden. This was their cue to get out. He gave a nod to Mimi, intertwined his fingers with her and together, they fled out of the marvellous garden.

Once they were on the pavement again, they gasped for air from the running. All of the sudden, Mimi started giggling, which soon changed into laughter.

"Meems, what's so funny?" Yamato questioned intrigued with her sudden action.

"Nothing," she spoke between the giggles. "It's just, … What we did just earlier, was so exciting, so bad, so-… arousing."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was so arousing that I can make love to you right here, right now."

He raised an eyebrow. "Here, now, in the open?"

Mimi nodded and moved closer towards Yamato, swirling a gold lock of his hair with her finger. She brushed her lips against his, so soft, so gently, that the feeling kept tingling when she withdrew them.

"Why don't we go to my apartment?" she asked seductively.

"Sure, I can do this _all_ day-…" with that said, he realised he planned the whole day with Takeru. Now, he realised that he was leaving for _three months_, leaving his new friends, his brother and leaving _her_. He hated doing this, he didn't want to leave her side, especially after last night. After all, she finally declared her love for him and he for her. They even made their love official by taking her in the garden, claiming her as his.

"What's wrong, Yama?"

A sigh escaped his lips as he removed himself out of Mimi's arms.

"I _want_ to do this all day, but I _can't_."

"Right," Mimi understood what he was saying and closed her eyes sadly. "This is your last day here. And you are going to spend it with your brother."

"I'm sorry, but I can't cancel it. He's still my baby brother."

She hushed. "You don't have to explain yourself, I comprehend your situation."

Yamato held her in her arms once more and swung her gently. He kissed her temple, rubbing her back while she laid her head against his chest. They just stood there, in their own little world and nothing would tear them apart, except the fact that they had to let go of each other sometime.

"I have to go now, unfortunately," Yamato whispered on just an audible tone.

"Five more minutes." she begged.

"Meems, I have to-…," he wiggled out of her hold and placed his hands on her arms. "I wish I could stay here with you, but this tour could be an improvement for the band," the tears in her eyes were already threatening to fall, but he continued. "I love you so much. Promise me that you'll wait for me."

"I promise and like I said before, you'll never going to lose me."

Genuinely and regretfully, he smiled at her and planted a small kiss on her lips for the umpteenth time. "Bye, Meems," then, he left to go to Takeru.

After a few steps taken, he turned around to face her and he frowned pondering about something.

Impulsively, he ran up to her, took her hands in his, and blurted. "Come with me."

Wide-eyed, she suspiciously muttered. "What?"

"Come with me, I want you to come with me on tour," he suggested as if it was that easy to do, she couldn't, she had her friends, her job. She couldn't leave that behind for three months!

"You can't be serious! I can't just leave for three months, what about my friends, my job?" she shrilled.

"But what about _me_?" he countered.

"I-… I-…," Mimi sighed, clapping a hand in front of her eyes. "I don't know, Yamato. I can't decide all that in one second. This is huge, you-… you do realize what you're asking me?"

"I do. I only want to be with you," Yamato saw her bewildered look and noticed she needed time to think this through. "I know it's rash of me to ask, but I'll give you some time to think about this. I leave tonight, if you aren't at Takeru's place before seven pm, then I know that you don't want to go on tour with me. If you do show up, then I know that you do want to go with me."

Mimi sighed.

Then, Yamato cupped her face with his left hand and tilted it up to look her straight in the eye. He kissed her for the last time before mentioning. "You have to decide what you want, Meems. It's _your_ choice."

* * *


	9. Chapter Eight

**Love From The Past **

**Chapter Eight**

**

* * *

**They could only hope that one day, she would forgive them. AU/Romance 

**A/N:** I'm terribly sorry that it took me so long to update. But I made this chapter _extra long _(the flashback is _much_ longer than usual) to make you forgive me for the delay.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

Mimi was in deep thought when she headed back to her work, after showering and changing at home. Yamato had left her in quite a pickle. Of course, she loved him, and last night had been amazing, but-… leaving town for three months? 

It was a difficult decision to make, and she had to make it rather fast. Her decision was due seven o'clock tonight!

It was too much to handle right now. For the moment, she had to focus on her work. Well, she did leave Nina all by herself the other night, so she owed her. She would make up by cleaning up the kitchen. Slightly shuddering at the thought, the place would probably be very, very dirty because of all the customers last night. But it was all for the greater good, you got to help out your friends. When she arrived at the restaurant, she took out her key to open the door. She (luckily) was the only person in there, so she could easily scour and surprise both Nina and Yayoi. Sweeping the broom around, on the beat of the radio she just turned on, she actually made cleaning fun instead of a dreadful boring chore. In fact, it made her forget about the difficult decision she had to make.

"Tachikawa Mimi cleaning up? That's something you don't see everyday," a newly voice teased the honey-headed beauty.

Whirling her head to see to whom the voice belonged to, Mimi smiled. "Very funny, Nina."

"Seriously, what are you doing?"

Mimi frowned disappointed. "As the eye tells you, I'm cleaning."

"Let me rephrase my question," Nina stepped towards Mimi. "What are you _really_ doing?"

Mimi sighed, and rolled her eyes. "I'm doing this to return the favour you did for me yesterday. I owed you… and Yayoi too."

"See, I knew there was a reason our princess was cleaning," she chuckled. "But you don't _owe_ me. That's what friends are for, girl. Come on, why don't you mob the kitchen floor while I do the dishes? Then, you can tell me all the details of your date with the lead singer of the Wolves," she giggled like a little girl with pigtails who just pushed her crush in the mud.

Mimi had to smile again at Nina's behaviour. That woman sure was something else, she was totally different from her other friends. She was -to say it nicely- completely nuts, and her other friends (okay, Miyako and Daisuke were a little nuts too) weren't like that. There was no way in hell Hikari would dye her hair completely orange. Fortunately, Nina only dyes a few strand of hair orange, because a full head of orange was _not_ pretty. Although, Mimi herself had a period in high school that her own hair was dyed in pink with yellow stars in them.

"So, how was your date last night?" Nina asked curiously.

"A lady never tells."

The older girl sniffed. "That's a _gentleman_ never tells. Besides, you're no lady, so spill it."

"Fine," Mimi caved in. "He took me to a secluded, but miraculously a beautiful garden. There, we talked a lot, mostly about the fact that he's scared I still love Taichi more than him. And we swam a bit in the pool. That's about it."

Nina arched an eyebrow suspiciously.

"What?"

Then, she waved her hand at Mimi in a way like _'continue your story'_.

"What?" Mimi repeated.

"God, you're such a prude!" she taunted.

"What? Why?"

Nina only smirked. "For not admitting that you had sex."

At that last comment, Mimi blinked twice. Then, she averted her eyes, and tried to avoid blushing, which she didn't succeed. However, Nina didn't give any notice, and simply added. "Sorry girl, but it's written all over your face in huge bold letters _'I had sex with the Ishida Yamato!'_." Nina smirked cockily, and proudly at her own discovery.

"Okay, okay. I slept with Yamato. God, how can you read that of my face?" Mimi inquired with quite an admiration for the other chef. In those areas, Nina was a living computer instead of Koushirou.

"Oh, that's my dirty, little secret," she chirped. "And…"

"And-… _what_?"

"How was it?"

Mimi's eyes widened ever so big. "Oh my God, I waited for you to ask _that_."

"Well, duh," she shot her a look. "We are still talking about Ishida Yamato! I want to know how good he really is. Since, you have experienced his _skills_, I have to do my investigation through you, now don't I?"

"You are unbelievable!" Mimi threw her hands in the air (while dropping the mob in the progress), to show her frustration and impatience.

"Come on! It's just a simple question. You don't need to get so worked up for it."

"It's not a _simple_ question, it's a _private_ question."

Nina rolled her eyes. Sometimes, Mimi could be so naïve and even tough, she's the most honest person Nina had ever met, Mimi had built up a wall around her heart since Taichi's departure.

Mimi continued her rant. "So, if it's _private_, it concludes keeping it to yourself and the respectful other or others. Meaning: _not_ telling anyone else, including _you, _Nina."

With a comment like that, Nina couldn't control her snicker anymore. "Meems, please. Have you given this entire affair a thorough thought?"

"What are you implying?"

"Well, Yamato is a famous lead singer. For the moment, his fame keeps rising and growing at an enormous speed. You're his latest conquest, for whom he cares a lot. It's only a matter of time your relationship gets public in some tabloid or magazine," she explained as if the matter wasn't meaningful or significant at all.

When in fact it was!

Nina was right, she hadn't given it all a thorough thinking. Of course, this revelation only made her decision to go with him even more complicated. Mimi didn't want that private stuff about her would be read by every single person in Japan, or in the world for that matter. And she was someone who read many magazines herself, she knew perfectly well that not only the celebrities would pop up in magazines, but even their families, friends and beloved ones. If she went with Yamato on tour, that meant that all his fans and the press would see her, and acknowledge her as his girlfriend.

_Shit_, was the only word that rang through her head.

Besides, her relationship with Yamato was _official_ now. Both knew that for sure, they declared their love for each other by _words_ and by _actions_. Which she didn't regret one bit, hell she enjoyed it a _lot_. But making it _publicly official _(outside their friends and family), that she would regret for sure. Because -not wanting to admit it- she was truly scared of Taichi's reaction if he would find out. And, if it stood in every magazine, he would find out sooner or later. Even tough, Taichi belonged to her past and Yamato to her future, she didn't want the two get mixed up in some possible way.

However, Taichi _probably_ would know by Hikari by now, but still-... She didn't want him to read it from a stupid sheet. Like aforementioned, he had been a huge part of her past, and it would devastate her to realize she could have told him herself (she even liked the mere idea of Hikari telling him), in spite of everything he had put her through.

Because, she remembered the scene that Sora discovered about Taichi and her very well. It was printed inside her mind like she was reliving it right now.

* * *

**Flashback**

"What's the matter?" Mimi asked concerned.

A sigh was the response. "Nothing much."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes," the other one snapped.

"Then, tell me why you call me at eleven pm, while sobbing and crying, and demanding me to come over?"

"I'm not upset anymore. I already fixed the problem, so you can go home now."

"I don't believe you, Sora."

Finally, Sora turned her head to look up to Mimi. She had red, puffy eyes from crying all evening, and her face was smeared because of the tears. That was a sign and proof she wasn't alright at all.

"Don't believe me then, see if I care," the red-headed girl barked at her best friend.

Mimi ambled over to the bed, where Sora was lying on her stomach, and sat next to her friend. To sooth the obvious devastating girl, she laid her hand on her shoulder, and spoke tenderly. "But I care."

When Sora felt that she was losing control of her emotions again, she buried her head into her pillow again. It was an attempt to cover it up from Mimi, but the honey-haired girl had noticed when Sora's lower lip started trembling.

"Can you please tell me what happened?" Mimi asked, even tough she already knew what happened.

"Wll, Ay td Tch th-...," she slurred into her pillow, which made it hard for Mimi to understand what she was trying to share.

"Sora, don't talk into your pillow. I only heard a few letters, but no actual words."

The older girl lifted her head up, then rolled over to settle down on her side and face Mimi. After she heaved a loud, shagged sigh, she began to explain her story again (this time clearly). "Well, I told Taichi that I love him. I'm sorry, Meems. I know you like him too, but I couldn't keep my feelings bottled up inside anymore. I don't want to offend you in any way. Please, don't forget that you're still my best friend, and best friends don't hurt each other intentionally."

Mimi averted her stare, because she couldn't look Sora in the eyes when she hurtled that last part out. Here, she was sitting next to her best friend knowing that her best friend loved somebody she loved as well, and that she actually captured that boy's heart instead of her best friend. And, that they both wouldn't want this crush to affect their friendship, but on the other hand that they didn't have another choice than to try and gain that boy's love. And, that her best friend lost, and was deeply devastated by it all, and that she was comforting her now. God, she was being such a hypocrite!

"I will never forget that, Sor. And I too don't wish to harm you either. We've been best friends for too long," she hushed, while feeling sick in her stomach for stating that when she in fact was betraying her friend. She wanted to run to the bathroom as fast as her legs could bear, and hurl all the guilt out of her system, and to fix this mess she had made single-handedly. However, she knew that this situation couldn't be solved that easily.

A sincere smile crept on Sora's face. "Thanks, Meems. I truthfully admire your compassion. I committed treason towards our friendship by revealing my feelings for Taichi, and still you stay the true friend as you are by listening to me and comforting me. I treasure your friendship, Meems. I really appreciate what you're doing for me."

Those words made Mimi feel even more nauseous. How badly she wanted to admit to Sora of her relationship with Taichi. How badly she wanted to apologize to Sora for backstabbing her like she did. How badly she wanted to swear at Taichi, and to tell him to jump in a river just for Sora's sake. How badly she wanted to throw up the guilt that was slowly and painfully sinking in her gut. How badly she just wanted to disappear.

But, she had to suck it all up. Besides, how much she loved Sora, she still loved Taichi as well, and couldn't, or better said _wouldn't_ put an end to her relationship with him. Oh, she didn't want to be in Taichi's shoes the moment he would be confessing everything to Sora. Only by looking at Sora, only by talking to her, only by being in her presence, made her feel like a complete and utter _bitch_. A devious, backstabbing, awful, ugly bitch.

Suddenly, Sora's voice interrupted Mimi's thoughts. "But what about you?"

"What about _me_?" she echoed, shaking her head softly.

"Like I mentioned before, you also have feelings for Taichi. Don't you want to take a shot at gaining his affection?"

Out of reflex, she parted her mouth slightly, but shut it quickly. What was she supposed to reply to that question?

"I don't know," was the best thing to reply after a short pause, she figured.

Sora merely nodded, but grew suspicious of it. However, she decided not to dwell on the matter. She was sure if Mimi had something important to say, she would when the time was right.

Silence descended upon them, and even tough both disliked it, they didn't do anything about it either. After a couple of minutes, Mimi couldn't stand it much longer, and started to chat only to initiate a conversation. She dearly hoped it would develop into a regular one, so she won't fixate all her thoughts on her betrayal the entire time. Why did her life become so complicated?

'So, how are things in the flower shop?"

Sora, who was busying herself by fiddling with the straps of her pyjama trousers, moved her light brown orbs upwards, and gaped at Mimi. "Sorry, I didn't catch what you were saying."

Mimi simply repeated. "How are things in the flower shop?"

After sniffing a bit, she replied. "For the moment-... horrible."

"How come?"

"My mother is having a bit of trouble with the store, and she's constantly bugging me to help her. I _don't_ care that I have to aid her, but I _do_ care that she disrupts me when I'm doing homework or having tennis practice. A girl's got to have her youth and a-... _life_."

"Perhaps, you'll savvy the situation if you knew the problem. If you ask her, she'll probably answer."

"Why should I even bother to ask her! If she truly loves me, she'll say it by herself! I'm sick and tired to always be interrupted while I'm having the slightest fun! If I counted the many times I felt the bit of urge to throw my cell phone against a wall, just so she can't call me anymore, I would have crossed the million! If I counted the many times I felt the bit of urge to crush and crumple those stinky flowers and plants with my bear hands, just so I don't have a reason anymore to be there, I would have crossed the million as well!" she screamed at the younger girl. "Why do I have to sacrifice my life, just because she ruined her own!"

"I'm sure she loves you, and that she-..."

"No! Sometimes, I don't think she loves me. She barely talks to me, she barely notices me, she barely sees me. Why should she love me?" she snarled.

Finally, Sora calmed down. It sure felt good as hell to let all the frustration slip out of her mouth and shake off her shoulders. It was getting quite a burden to let it all bottle up inside. Then, she glanced at Mimi, who frankly looked very pale and had widened her eyes. She looked... _shocked_. Sora cursed in her head, as good as it felt to let it all out, she shouldn't have to yell at her. It wasn't her fault that she had _issues_ (that was lightly said) with her mother.

"Oh, Meems. I'm so terribly sorry. Oh my god, please don't be mad at me for shouting. I guess I'm so irritated by it all that I-..."

But, all what Mimi did was pointing at the door.

Sora whirled her head around, only to see her mother standing leaning onto the doorframe with sad tears trickle her the corners of her eyes. One escaped, and rolled down her cheek. Her mother turned around, and walked away to who knows where. The exact moment the teardrop splashed on the floor, was the moment it all dawned Sora. Her mother heard every single, yelling word coming out of her mouth.

"Oh no," she murmured.

"Sorry, Sor. I would have told you, but I spotted her the moment you were done screaming."

"Don't be," she whispered brusquely. "It's not your fault. _I_ was the one who was screaming all of it. Not _you_. Besides, I was bound to explode someday, the sooner the better."

Mimi didn't respond. The fact was that she didn't know _what_ to respond. She found it odd that Sora took the situation… very well– a little too well. If she would even dare to speak like that about her own mother, and if her mother would hear her, then her mother would strangle her for certain. Or she would do even worse things than death. But Sora's mother just… strode away. No thundering back, no pointing fingers, no physical violence, but only disappointment with a mere tear. Which was much worse than all those other actions together.

After organizing her thoughts, she glanced at the digital radio-clock. The red, brightening, numbers shone out 00.37. Her parents would be concerned about her well-being. When she was about to mention it to Sora, the older girl already noticed. "It's very late. If you want to you can sleep over here, and call your parents."

A nod. "Good idea," she confirmed her nod.

"I'm going to make you a bed to crash in, and you can use one of my pyjama's," Sora announced. "The phone is downstairs, but you know that."

When Mimi climbed down the stairs, she eyed Sora's mother closing her bedroom door gently. She heard the sobs and the weeping from the other side of the door. It was so sad, and she sympathized for the mother. But, she wasn't going to meddle with, this was a case between Sora and her own mother.

After she called up her parents to assure them she was fine and to caution them she was sleeping over at Sora's, she headed back to Sora's bedroom. However, the moment she treaded a foot on the first step, the doorbell rang twice.

That was peculiar.

Their little gang had the habit, that if you had the ring the doorbell twice so the other would know it was one of the gang.

So, who of the gang would be ringing Sora's (or anyone else's for that matter) doorbell this late?

Before Sora could sprint down the stairs, Mimi opened the door (since she was close by), only to reveal a confusing Yagami Taichi.

Eye-wide, Mimi asked on a low voice. "What in God's name are you doing here?" she ushered him inside anyways.

"To see my best friend," then, his lips turned into a smirk. "and my _girlfriend_, apparently," he leaned in to kiss her on the lips, but she backed away rapidly, before he could do so. Her action made him pout, it was an adorable sight but she wouldn't fall for it.

"Taichi, you can't do that here and now!" she hissed through gritted teeth. "If Sora sees us, you-…"

"That's the reason why I'm dropping by this late. To tell her the truth," he pinpointed.

She frowned sternly, and when she was about to protest, Sora exclaimed. "_Taichi_! What the heck are you doing at my front door?" even tough, Sora was raving mad about their previous encounter, she still couldn't blame him for what he felt about her. He, as herself, couldn't command their emotions.

"I need to talk to you."

"Couldn't you do that tomorrow? At a proper hour?"

"It's urgent," he insisted on having his talk right now.

"Well, okay then. I'll make some hot choco. Mimi, you can wait upstairs in my room."

"No, Mimi can participate the conversation if she wants. She's a part of this too."

"O- Okay," Sora stammered, while arching a suspicious eyebrow at the tanned boy. She knew he was hiding something important from her, and by his serious look (that was rare, Taichi with a serious face!), it wouldn't be anything pretty. But, she would wait until he talked with her, and decided to make those hot choco's. It wouldn't take long, just a couple of minutes.

When Sora was out of sight, Mimi turned abruptly to Taichi. The only thing she did, was glare deadly daggers at him.

Taichi felt offended. "She deserves to know, Mi."

"Of course, she does, but," she sighed fatigued. "does it have to be done _now_?"

"Yes. We shouldn't be stalling this. It's not fair against her."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not fair anyways. Besides, she just had a bit of an _argue_ with her mother."

"That's something that she has to deal with," Taichi stated, and saw Mimi making a face at him, so he tried to justify his statement. "That may have sound relentless and inhuman," the honey-haired girl bobbed her head in affirmation, but he continued. "But that's something we can't do anything about. The only thing we can do, is be honest with her about us."

"You're right."

Taichi encircled his arms around her waist to give her some support. It was not smart to do this here, but she didn't care. All she cared about, was that Taichi was holding her like she was the most fragile, and most valuable person on the world. Thus, she snuggled into his embrace, and wrapped her arms around his waist too, and snuggled her face into his chest.

Closing her eyes, Mimi never felt this disgusted with herself her entire life. Here she was, hugging the boy she loved, when she was about to reveal everything to her best friend. The guilt was throbbing in her chest and in her neck. She thanked God that Taichi was there, there was no way she could do this all alone.

"What's going on with you two?" Sora inquired jokingly, while she put the tray with three cups of hot choco on the coffee table.

The two lovers let go of each other (tough Taichi was a smidge reluctant), and gazed at Sora, who was sitting down on the fauteuil. The redhead motioned them to sit down as well, which they did on the two-seat couch.

The tension was so sharp, you could have cut it easily with a butter knife. Neither of the threesome seemed loosened up, which was pretty logical. Sora furrowed her brow at the other two, and whimpered. "Okay, what's going here? Why are you looking at me so funny?"

Taichi looked Sora straight in the eyes, while Mimi wasn't as brave as him. Thus, she averted her gaze from both Taichi's and Sora's. Observing that, Taichi intertwined his fingers with Mimi's as an attempt to give her some of his strength and courage. Then, he focused all his attention towards Sora, who didn't seem to have acknowledged their entanglement.

"Sora, _I_- I mean _we_," he corrected himself as he pointed to Mimi and himself. "We want you to know that we love you, and we still want to be friends forever," he prompted carefully and devotedly.

"Stop beating around the bush, Yagami. You're scaring me!"

"Sora, I know you love me as more than a friend, but I guess you already realise I don't feel that way about you. Because-… because I love Mimi, and she loves me back. We wanted to tell you personally that we're a couple now," he spoke bluntly, even tough you could see the situation was tormenting him inside. Taichi was always the one, who knew how to disguise his inner demons, and he was always the one, to put on a brave face for everyone else. But this time, he couldn't play the little leader as he was used to, because it was _himself_, who was hurting one of his friends.

When those words sank into Sora's head, she accidentally dropped the mug. The moment the mug fell on the floor, it shattered to a dozen chunks. The clinging sound kept ringing through all three their ears.

"_What_?" she blanched.

Finally, Mimi dared to look at her, and rattled. "Sor, please, we don't want you to hate us now. We're BFF, best friends forever, and please, don't let this come between us. I really love you, and I'm always there for you, and please, don't hate me, but I can't change the way I feel about Taichi, and-…"

"Stop it, Meems!" Sora wailed with a shrill voice. "I can't hear another word from you two. I can't even look at you two. Get out!"

"Don't do this, please, I'm begging you. Don't do anything rash," the youngest of the three was choking on her words, because she was already crying.

"Get out, now! Get out! Get out! Get out! GET OUT!" she yelled outraged.

And that was what they did, they had learned more than once that you never argue with an angry Sora. Frankly, they had never seen her this-… _pissed off_. They could only hope that one day, she would forgive them.

**End Flashback**

* * *

"Mimi? Earth to Tachikawa Mimi!" Nina waved her hands in front of her, and noticed it wasn't working. Therefore, she snapped her fingers which practically disrupted Mimi's daze. 

"Huh," Mimi murmured.

Nina laughed. "What happened? You tuned out for several minutes. Pondering about something I said?"

"Yeah, pondering, that was what I have been doing," she remanded with a groggily voice.

"About what then?"

"Nothing much."

"Oh no, not again," Nina lamented. "You weren't thinking about Taichi again, were you? Because, honey, it's time to let him go. He has Sora, and most important, you have Yamato now! Don't hurt that blond god of a singer!"

"That's not it."

"Then, tell me what it is exactly!"

She paused. "Do you really want to listen to all my whining? Once more?"

"Yes, that's what friends are for."

"Fine, the issue is, that I'm afraid of everything you said earlier. About the fact, that I don't want my face to appear in all those magazines as Yamato's latest conquest!"

"Oh."

"Yes, _oh_. I want to maintain my privacy. Not share everything with the entire world," she complained.

Nina put her two hands on Mimi's shoulders to force the girl to look at her. She understood perfectly that Mimi was freaked out about that. It was a normal reaction.

"Meems, listen to my words. It's normal for you to react that way, but you have to ask yourself this one question: do you trust and love Yamato enough to get passed all that?"

* * *

Ding dong 

Takeru ran as fast as he could to answer the doorbell. When, he swayed the door open, and there was a depressed Yamato revealed. But, the lead singer disguised his desperation quickly by feigning a big grin, before his little brother could notice.

"Hey, baby brother. How are you doing?"

"Hmm," Takeru hummed. Apparently, he wasn't as good as his brother in hiding his true emotions. He stepped aside to let Yamato inside, and then offered. "You want a sandwich or something? You caught me when I was eating cornflakes."

"Thanks, I would have skipped breakfast if you didn't ask me."

The younger blond looked at him queerly. "You know, mom would say 'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you've got to have some breakfast.' and then, she would shove some piece of bread in my mouth, while I was protesting."

"Being a rebel, much? I can picture mom doing that, strict and to the point."

"That's mom for you."

They both ambled over to the kitchen, and sat opposite each other on Takeru's small dinner table. Takeru stirred his cereal with his spoon, while Yamato made himself a sandwich with cheese. As Takeru shoved himself a spoonful of cereal in his mouth, Yamato stood up to pour himself a cup of coffee like Takeru had earlier, and questioned while standing against the counter.

"So, what does my baby brother want to do today?"

"Don't call me 'baby brother'."

"Why not?"

"Because-... because I'm not a little kid anymore."

Yamato sneered. "Theoretically, you're not," he walked towards Takeru, and shuffled his blond spikes. "But you're _always_ going to be _my_ baby brother," he chuckled.

"It just sounds so-... _patronizing_."

"Hey, that's not true, and since when do you care about that. I've always nicknamed you 'baby brother'. Besides, I have a right to call you that if I want to, and whether you like it or not.'

Takeru quirked an eyebrow. "The right? In what _law_ is that written?"

"In the _official _big brother law," Yamato simply stated with a serious face, after he ate the last piece of his cheese sandwich.

A laugh was heard from the younger boy.

"So, you left my question unanswered. What do you want to do for our last day?"

"Wvr yu wntt," he spoke with his mouth full, the only thing Yamato could hear, was the crunching of the cereal and a few letters.

"You know, if you're mouth is empty you can articulate better, and I can actually understand what you're saying. Funny, that mom taught you to eat breakfast, but forgot to teach you that you don't speak with mouth full."

Before replying, Takeru swallowed his food down hard. "Whatever you want."

"It's all fine by me, you choose."

"But, for me it's all the same too, you pick."

"No, no. The choice is up to you."

"That will be impolite of me, it's _your_ last day here. So, I'm not choosing."

"Fine, we'll draw straws, the shortest straw must pick," Yamato suggested.

How Yamato had missed _this_ so much! This very moment. Simply being with his brother, arguing and quarrelling (on friendly terms that is) with each other. They hadn't seen the likes of each other for a very long time. It had been such a shame, family was something that would last forever. Brothers and sisters were supposed to stick together, and support one other till the end. For example, if one of the siblings knocked over the expensive and of great value vase, then the other one was supposed to make up a good excuse for the other, not peach on him. And that was what they always did for each other. But, then their parents got divorced, and he hung around with the wrong people (to say it nicely), and his mother took Takeru (the only thing that held him a bit on the right path) away from him and his father. Thank god, that they got back in touch.

Apparently, Takeru had drawn the smallest straw, and the day activity was up to him. He looked remorsefully at the tiny straw.

"How about two out of three?" he asked hopefully.

"Nah, the straw pulling was fair, so it's your choice."

Takeru merely shrugged. Then, got up from his chair to put his empty bowl and empty mug in the sink, and he cleaned up everything else from the table. Just as he was about to clean up Yamato's plate, the eldest of the two cut him to it.

"Do you know what we're going to do now?"

"Not really," he sighed.

"We don't have to do anything special. Simple stuff can be fun too."

Takeru's face lit up at Yamato's remark. "Yeah, we can go to the park. It's really lovely. We can talk, eat some hot dogs. Thank God, it's spring weather again, not that ever lasting winter weather."

"Sounds great, let's go."

With that decided and said, they both grabbed their coats, and left Takeru's apartment. They strode together on the paths in the park, and went to sit next to one other on a bench.

"So," Yamato wondered. "Why were you so gloom when I rang your doorbell?"

Takeru scraped his throat. "Nothing," he scratched his nose out of agitation. "Absolutely nothing."

"You were always a bad liar, baby brother. Now, tell me what's going on precisely."

"Look, Yamato. It's none of your business, okay? I don't want to talk about it anyway."

"What? You can't even tell me! Man, then it must be serious. It will make you feel better if you have it off your chest, so explain," Yamato insisted.

Takeru pursed his lips, and shook his head slightly. "Why don't you do the talking and I'll do the listening?" he asked rhetorically, he didn't need Yamato to answer that. It was already decided one-sided. "How are things with Mimi? Did you two share a special adieu?" he dismissively inquired only to avoid questions about him. And, he really didn't want to talk about the-Hikari-and-Willis-situation. Although, he knew deep inside that he had to face confrontation with one of them someday, and he knew he had to face at least talking about it. But, he didn't want to right now. He simply wanted to end this particular day happily, and that wouldn't work if they talked about his love problems.

Yamato rolled his eyes tiredly at his little brother, sometimes that boy could be a pain in the butt (well, it was very rare). "Fine, I took her to a secluded garden-...," he began his story, but he was interrupted shortly by Takeru.

"The one of Mr Kato?"

"... yes."

The younger one furrowed his brow. "You did realise that was trespassing private property?"

"... yes."

"Okay then, continue."

"Thank you," Yamato scoffed sarcastically. "Well, as I was saying, I took her to Mr Kato's secret garden. We chit-chatted a tad, and then, we spent the entire night there, and this morning we said our goodbyes," he finished, without mentioning the part that he invited Mimi to go on tour with him.

"Oh, you _spent_ the night _together_?" Takeru jokingly pinpointed, while wiggling his eyebrows.

"Yes, I believe we are adults here, and are mature enough to talk about- ahem-… sex. I believe you have been taught of the birds and the bees. Otherwise, I can explain _that_ to you again, right now."

"Whoa," the young writer waved his hands defensively. "I don't need to hear that lecture from you," he shook his head as if to erase the last piece of their conversation. "I guess you had a wonderful night then, huh?"

"Yeah," Yamato sighed dreamily.

"But, what happened this morning? No sorrowful, regretful goodbye tears, hugs and kisses?"

"Of course, there were those!" Yamato snapped, although he didn't intend to. But, Mimi did became a sensitive subject in his life. If only she knew what a huge impact she was in his life. When you talked about her, you were treading on dangerous grounds.

"Sorry, bro. Didn't mean to offend you!" Takeru shot back.

"No, I should be the one to apologize. But, I got to confess that I invited her to go on tour with me."

"You _what_? Man, your relationship with her must be serious!"

"Yeah, it pretty much is. But, the worst part is that I don't know if this relationship is as serious for her as it is for me."

"The only serious relationship that she ever had with someone, has got to be with Taichi. It took her a long amount of time to get over him, and move on."

"What if she hadn't moved on? What if her heart still belongs to him?"

"Don't talk like that! That's totally not necessary. I'm sure she loves you now, and not Taichi anymore. At least, not in the way she used to," Takeru comforted.

"Well, that is my biggest fear," Yamato admitted. "That she'll _never_ love me the way she loved Taichi."

**

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**


	10. Chapter Nine

**Love from the Past **

**Chapter Nine**

**

* * *

**And still, after all those lonely years of sorrow and hurt, she kept thinking of him. She couldn't keep doing this to herself any longer. AU/Romance 

**

* * *

A/N:** I sincerely apologize that I updated so late again but maybe I can make you forgive me (once more) by this _very long chapter_. I'll try to keep the next chapters roughly as long as this one. And since the first few chapters aren't as long as the latest, I'll revamp those one day. When I do, I will inform you on the summary or author's note.

Oh yeah, someone asked me why this story is in the Hikari-Mimi filter. Well, I should explain that to all of you, I guess. The reason is that Mimi and Hikari are _obviously_ the main characters, seeing that most of the story is about their love lives. And it also due the fact that I don't want to give away with who Mimi will end up with. If I put Mimi-Taichi, everyone will know that it's going to be Taichi or if I put Mimi-Yamato, then everyone will know that they will be the couple. So I hope I answered that for you guys.

Before I forget, I must mention that in this chapter there will be the revelation of what happened in Mimi's past with Taichi. It took me nine chapters and a prologue, but it's finally here! Without further ado, I present you _chapter nine_.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

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After talking and feeding the ducks, Takeru still pondered over something Yamato admitted a few hours ago. 

Out of the blue, Takeru questioned. "Do you really mean that?"

Yamato cocked an eyebrow ignorant.

"About before, you know about your fear?" Takeru asked, a bit taken aback about his earlier comment. "Do you really mean that?"

He always knew that he was cheery and hopeful, and that his brother, on the other hand, was more darker and lonelier. But upon hearing his brother's anxiety, he never realised Yamato could be that pessimistic. Okay, he didn't know how Mimi behaved around Yamato when they were together, but hearing the stories from Miyako and Hikari, that Mimi told them about her and Yamato, she must at least feel _something_ for his older brother. Although, according the tales, it had got to be _more_ (a lot more) than just _something_. Then, why was Yamato so anxious about their blooming relationship?

As response, Yamato simply nodded.

The oldest of the two didn't feel like explaining his fear. Even tough, he knew he had every right to be scared. He contemplated his relationship with Mimi over and over again and his instincts always told him that he was crazier about her than she was about him. _That _wasn't really an issue, but the other thing that his instincts told him, is that her heart still belonged to Taichi. Well, he would know where her heart truly belong if she would appear at Takeru's place at seven pm.

He decided to avoid the topic of him and Mimi, and redirect the attention towards his little brother.

"Anyway, how's it going with _your_ love life, bro?" he informed teasingly.

Now, Takeru's face turned gloom.

"Or better yet, the _lack_ of your love life," the eldest of the two kept kidding around. Little did he know, he was actually hurting Takeru with those words.

Takeru feigned a chuckle. "Yeah, _this_ is amusing for you, huh?" His chuckle echoed away very rapidly and wailing replaced the sound. "The _absence_ of my love life is so hilarious. Really, I'm screaming with laughter here." He clapped a hand in front of his face and let it slide back down. "I'm so pathetic, aren't I?"

"Wait." Yamato look bewildered at Takeru's little outburst. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't get it, that's all. Do I _repel_ women in some way? Am I too obnoxious to handle or something?"

Yamato swung an arm around his baby brother's shoulders. "I can also say honestly that you're absolutely wrong. You're _not _obnoxious and you _don't_ push women away. I, on the other hand, find you annoying sometimes, but that's because it's a part of the whole brother-situation. So you can't respond with 'you say that because you're my big bro and stuff'."

Takeru gave an other response: he merely rolled his eyes at his brother's alertness.

"There's nothing wrong with you, you just got to meet the right girl when the time is right," the elderly of the two added.

"What if I already met the right girl for me?"

"Then I would advise you to court the woman with any means necessary."

The novelist furrowed his brow. "And what if I told you that she loves someone else?"

"Then I wouldn't know _what _to advise you," Yamato sounded doubtful. "I suppose–… it depends on several matters."

Takeru shredded another chunk out of the bread and threw it in the lake to feed the ducks some more. "On which matters do you mean?" he inquired interested.

Pensively, he put a finger underneath his chin. "For starters, how _much_ do you love the girl?"

"— Very much, so much it hurts so badly and makes me want to cry."

"Second, is she really happy with that other guy?"

"— That I don't know yet."

"Third, who's the girl?"

"— Yaga–…," he stopped himself promptly.

Yamato looked at him through half-lid eyes. "Yaga _who_?" he prodded, desperately wanting to discover the name of this mystery lady.

"Oh no, not telling. But I got to say, you almost tricked me there, I was going to tumble right into your little trap."

"Come on, give me a break here!"

Takeru couldn't help but laugh at his brother's behaviour. He truly missed this, just Yamato and him hanging out, joking and teasing one other. This was what siblings are supposed to do, just being within each other's presence and having fun. Even tough, they recently reconnected again, they built up their relationship up quickly. Which was a very good thing, because _family_ had always been the most important concept in the world. You could always trust and confide in family.

And he ought to do it as well.

And he was planning on it too, he would do it this instant.

"Yamato, I should confess since you're my brother and all." He threw another piece of bread at the swimming ducks. "The girl I'm in love with is Hikari," he sighed shaggily, as if a huge burden was lifted from his shoulders.

"Hikari?"

Takeru hummed.

"As in _Yaga_mi Hikari?"

A nod.

"As in _your best friend_, Yagami Hikari?"

Takeru frowned a tad irritated. "Yes, do I need to show you pictures of her as well. That you can visualise her even better. Or do I need to give you descriptions?"

"No, that's not required," Yamato spoke between soft laughter. "Man, lighten up. I was just messing with you."

"Sorry," he merely mumbled.

Yamato gave him a nudge on the arm. "You're forgiven," he smiled, also flinging some bread in the lake. "You're really serious about her, aren't you?"

A blush crept onto his cheeks. "Yes, I truthfully am."

"Then go for it."

"What!"

"Yeah, you should make a move."

"Let me rephrase my last word: come again! Didn't you listen to me at all? She already loves someone else!"

"How do you know that for certain?"

Exasperatedly, Takeru sighed. He didn't want to delve in the issue again. It was already difficult enough to talk to Koushirou about it the other night. Then again, Yamato was his older brother, whom he could trust and was loyal to him. Besides, Yamato confided in him earlier so he should have the same amount of faith in Yamato and confide in him too.

Since _when_ did his life become so damn complicated?

Ah, the advantages of becoming an adult and grow up from all the childish innocence.

"I was walking in the park by myself and there I saw Hikari kissing Willis," Takeru revealed. "It was a very heavy and passionate kiss. Well, Willis initiated it but she didn't push him away or stopped it somehow, she just enjoyed it and let him kiss her."

"Ouch."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

Yamato frowned. "I don't get it tough."

"Get what?"

"Mimi told me some time ago that she figured out you loved Hikari and–…"

"Wait! You already knew!" Takeru cut him off shortly.

"Yes, but I–…"

"How come you didn't mention that you already knew!"

"Because I wanted to hear it from you, that's all. You do realise that _every _kind of relationship is based on trust and since we're starting from scratch, I figured that I should find out if you trusted me with this."

Takeru didn't reply, but cast his gaze down instead.

The singer continued. "And I'm glad you did," he smiled and ruffled Takeru's hair playfully. "I've got something to confess too."

"Okay, you can confess whatever you want after you finish your previous sentence. About what Mimi told you…?"

"Ah that. Well, Mimi told me that she already knew that you love Hikari and likewise," he simply stated, like it was a breezy thing to say. "So, about my confession-…"

"Hold on and rewind for a sec there. Mimi knows that I like Hikari and that Hikari likes… _me_? H– How does she know that?" he questioned, a bit squeaky in his voice.

"Don't go all _Chip and Dale_ on me with _that_ voice."

His ears turned red from embarrassment. "Sorry," he apologized with a very fake, manly-low voice.

"And to answer your question: she just told me that it was very obvious that you two loved each other and that both of you were oblivious on the whole matter. Perhaps Hikari said so to her, but I don't know about that for sure since I'm merely guessing so."

"I see."

"Look man, I feel really bad for you having to see her kissing with that other guy."

"I feel bad for myself too," he whispered, groping in the bag for some more bread for the ducks but noticing that the bag was empty. He crumbled the thing into a bal and held in his fist.

"You should beat him and show him a thing or two."

Takeru laughed. "Me thinks I'm going to be the one who gets beaten." Then, a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. "I don't know how to fight like you and your old best friend did in elementary school."

"You don't have to fight, Takeru. That's certainly not a solution. I was only joking," Yamato spoke seriously.

The younger blond closed his eyes. "I know, but what else am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to fight for her and with 'fight' I don't mean literally."

Takeru cast his gaze at his older brother. "You're right, I'll just follow my heart and let it guide me." He placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think it's time to head back home. Do you want to come with me? We can talk some more in my living room."

"Good idea. Why don't I confess my little thing on the way?"

Takeru shook his head slightly and frowned. "No, I want to do some thinking along the road. You can tell me anything you want when we get home." His lips upturned into a very small smile.

"Okay, whatever you want, baby brother."

* * *

"Everything's ready on the food table?" 

"Not yet, honey. You don't need to be all perked up for this," he insisted on making her calm down.

"Listen to me carefully, sweetie. When _I_'m in charge of organizing a party, then that party has to be flawless on all the areas, got it?" she hissed through clenched teeth and squinted her eyes threateningly. "Now, help me with hauling up this banner if you want to make yourself useful for a change!" she ordered.

"And you're going to marry that _monster_?" another boy asked rhetorically.

"I heard that, Motomiya!" Miyako yelled. "Come on, Ken. I can't hold up this thing much longer, you know!" the purple-haired girl barked at her fiancée, while she struggled to keep her balance while lifting up the huge banner.

Daisuke placed one of the trays with snacks on the table where Ken stood arranging the cups and drinks. Once he put down the trays, he whispered in Ken's ear. "Talk about a future insight. Now we all know who's wearing the pants in your relationship," he bantered and walked away laughing at the poor boy.

Hikari smacked Daisuke on the head while she passed him with the last tray of appetizers.

Softly, he rubbed the spot where she hit him. "Ouch, that hurt."

"Serves you right for laughing at him!" She waved a threatening finger in front of his face. "We all know that Miyako is very bossy and tends to get furious rapidly. And Ken knows that the best option is to obey her when she's like that. Unlike you, who gets in discussions with her easily because of that. Go apologize to him."

"You're right once again, Kar. And I will."

She smiled, you know that smile that made any man's knees go weak and melted their hearts.

The only thing Daisuke could do, was to return a smile and he patted her on the shoulder before heading to Ken and Miyako to help them out.

Hikari also set down the tray on the food-table and resumed Ken's arranging the cups and drinks.

Out of the blue, someone knocked on the front door.

They all looked at each other wide-eyed from the shock. Of course, Miyako had to top that by starting to hyperventilate. "Oh my God, – breathe – we're not – breathe – ready yet."

Ken handed her a paper bag so she could try to steady her breathing again.

Frowning, Daisuke whimpered. "But it can't be Takeru and Yamato. Takeru would just waltz in here, it's his place after all." Then, he walked to the door to get a glimpse of who it was through the peep hole. "Ah, relax everybody. It's only Willis."

Hikari's head shot up. _That_ didn't relax her one bit.

How could knowing that Willis was standing on the other side of the door, be so relaxing?

The last encounter she had with him, he kissed her. He kissed her! And what was worse? She didn't stop him!… Well, at first she didn't stop. Eventually she did and she sprinted away from him without saying any words. Thus, he would probably demand an explanation from her now.

So how could being in the same room with Willis 'relax' her?

Shaking her head slightly as an attempt to stop her worrying, she dusted the invisible dust of her clothes and prepared herself for him… mentally, that was.

Daisuke swung the door wide-open to usher to American blond inside. Then, Daisuke and Willis had that man-hug, you know where they clap their right hands together and circle their left arm around the other.

Miyako ambled over to them and glared daggers at Willis. "You were supposed to be here at twelve o'clock, mister. No, instead you show up a half hour too late." She put her hands on her hips. "You almost scared me to death, you know. I thought you were Takeru who was tagging Yamato along with him. And we're still not ready with the snacks and that stupid-really-getting-on-my-last-nerves banner," she hurtled out in one breath and as result looking red as a lobster.

"Damn, Miyako. A little edgy, are you?" Willis backed away from her slowly, most likely because he was starting to get scared of her. Especially because she looked like she had the potential to kill someone in this room right about now.

"Argh. It's all too much for me to handle," she snarled. "Sweetie, can you take over from here? I think I need to lay down for a sec and rest a bit. The hastiness is rushing to my head and it makes me go crazy."

Ken nodded as response and she left to go to Takeru's bedroom for a tiny nap.

"Try go completely _insane_," Daisuke quipped when she was out of hear sight. "Are you still sure about marrying that one, Ken?"

Ken simply smiled. "I've still got my heart set on it, yes."

Hikari folded her arms in front of her chest. "Want another whack on your head, Dai?" she smirked at him.

"Nah, I'm fine, thank you very much. Maybe later tough."

She rolled her eyes at his silliness. Same ol' Daisuke, always the goofy one. Just like her brother actually.

Then ,Willis asked. "So, what can I be a service for?"

Ken pointed at the banner lying wrinkled on the floor. "It's a two man's job." He glanced at Hikari and Daisuke. "You two can finish of the food-table."

"I can handle it by myself, it's nearly done," Hikari replied.

"What am I supposed to do then?" Daisuke wailed a tad.

"You can check on the _nutcase_," Ken joked, laughing together with Willis and Hikari at Daisuke's sulking.

"Hardy har har," the maroon-headed boy mumbled while he walked towards Takeru's bedroom.

While Hikari moved the last cups on its rightful place, Ken and Willis had hung up the large banner that said 'Good luck, we'll miss you and hope to see you again!' in gold letters on silver paper.

Playfully, Ken swiped off the imaginary little sweat droplets from his forehead with his arm. "Thank heavens, we're finally finished," he heaved a loud, satisfied sigh. "I dearly hope Yamato will appreciate all this."

"Don't worry, he will," Willis reassured.

All of a sudden, they heard screeching coming from Takeru's bedroom.

"Daisuke, _what_ the hell are you doing!"

"Aw, stop punching me, you mad woman!"

Ken rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Sometimes it amazes me how _well_ those two can get along with each other." He pouted at his other two companions. "I think I better go see what the trouble is about this time."

"Good thinking," Willis replied kidding.

And off Ken went.

Thus, that leaved Hikari and Willis alone in a room.

The awkwardness and tension grew in the air with a great velocity.

"So…"

"So," Hikari pressed her lips together in a thin line.

"So… How's the moving going?" Willis rapidly trailed away from the subject he actually wanted to talk about.

Hikari felt a bit relieved that he initiated that kind of conversation and not the one she suspected he would initiate. And yet, for some odd reason she did wanted to discuss that kiss. But for now, she decided it was for the best to avoid that topic.

"Good, good. Just some more furniture and belongings, and then I'm all set to move back to Odaiba."

"Are you excited?"

Hikari scrunched up her nose. "Yes–… and no."

"Wow, you really are a decisive one, aren't you?" he quipped.

Playfully, she hit his arm. "Don't you dare mock me."

"I'm sorry, please tell me more."

Hikari smiled and sat down on the couch. Promptly, Willis plopped down next to her.

She explained. "I'm glad to be moving back to Odaiba, because I'm finally get to be a teacher, full time job. Not a replacement for other teachers anymore. And I'll live close to my loving parents again. So that's fun."

"But…," Willis prodded.

"But, I'm going to miss it here in Kyoto. This is my _home_. And this is where all my friends live, excluding Daisuke."

"At least with you it's only a two-hour drive. In my case I have to fly around the globe to get here… and see _you_," he spoke while gazing into her soft brown eyes. He leaned forward to kiss her again, but the only response she had, was to lean backwards and prevent the kiss.

"_What_ are you doing?"

Willis buried his face in his hands and groaned. "I'm so sorry, Kari. God, I'm such an idiot." Then he slouched into the couch and cast his gaze to the ceiling. "I know that you love Takeru, I do and I respect that, but I– I think I'm falling in love with you."

"I've got to be honest with you." Hikari sat cross-legged and rocked her upper foot back and forth anxiously.

Willis whipped his head to his left so he can look at her.

"I do love Takeru. Always have, but since that day you kissed me… I began to think about you too, as in more than a mere friend."

"Really!" Immediately, his face bright up. "I've got to be the luckiest guy in the world."

"However–…"

His face dropped promptly and frowned. "I don't like that 'however'."

"I have to figure this out. I have to know where I stand with Takeru and besides, do you really think _us_ as a couple can work out?"

"Why not?"

"Because, I'm not sure about these feelings I have for you. And second, you live in America- _America_, Willis. While I live in Japan, that's way too far apart. I don't think that kind of a long distance relationship can work out," she poured her heart out sincerely.

"I understand," he whispered just audibly.

Her eyes sparkled from joy. "You do? I figured you would hate me after I said all that."

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I can _never_ hate you, Kar." He gently kissed her on the forehead to signal her everything was truly okay with him.

It wasn't like he could force her do get involved with him if that wasn't what her heart truly desired. He wasn't a moron, he comprehended the real issue. Namely, she wanted Takeru and not him.

She hugged him tightly and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Willis," she chirped. "You're a good friend."

And that was what he would remain. A good friend for her. But he was okay with that, better a friend than nothing at all.

Suddenly, Daisuke (who was holding with an ice pack on his head, probably during his verbal fight with Miyako, she made it a physical fight), Miyako and Ken walked back in the living room where the party would be present and where Hikari and Willis were sitting on the couch.

"Everything set in here?" Miyako inquired, apparently feeling a bit more soothed than earlier.

"Yes, everything's ready for Yamato's going away party."

Willis quirked an eyebrow. "What happened to you buddy?" he was referring to Daisuke.

He scowled. "Nothing, just forget about it."

Okay, now Hikari and Willis knew for certain that Miyako did punch him on the face. Daisuke should have learned his lesson by now: never ever push Miyako over the edge of her agony.

Ken wondered about something. "Hey, wasn't Mimi supposed to be here too?"

Everyone examined the room and it finally dawned them that Mimi hadn't arrived yet.

What in God's name took her so long?

What kind of girlfriend would she be if she missed her own boyfriend's going away party? A bad own, that was for sure. They all knew they had their special adieu yesterday, but that didn't mean anything. This party counted as the final goodbye.

Well, they wouldn't fall in despair knowing Mimi. She would probably be late anyways. Tachikawa Mimi was the type of woman who would always arrive late on parties, fashionably late that was. So they shouldn't break a sweat about it and decided to shrug it off.

"She'll show up sooner or later," Daisuke shrugged and placed himself on the arm rest of the couch next to Hikari.

Miyako paced up and down a tad, and enthused. "Oh my, this place looks fabulous now. Takeru is going to be proud of _me_."

Ken scraped his throat.

The energetic girl rolled her eyes. "Okay, he's going to be proud of _us_," she amended her previous statement. "Anyway, I know it's going to be a blast." She clapped her hands together excited.

"Don't get to hyper, buttercup." Ken grabbed her shoulders to calm her down a nudge.

"What is the deal with all those pet names? Really, one more and I'm going to vomit in Blondie's bathroom," Daisuke complained and clutched his stomach.

"Oh, Dai. Let them do whatever they want. That's love for you and you just don't understand that yet," Hikari grinned at him. "Wait and see what sickening thing you will do once you get a girlfriend." She ruffled his hair playfully.

He cringed (obviously kidding around). "Argh, don't make me picture myself getting all lovey-dovey. Yuck."

The rest of them laughed or giggled at his childish behaviour. They even expected him scoffing '_girls have cuties_, so no way I'll date one'. They didn't act like it sometimes (especially Miyako), but they did love that goofy Daisuke. When they were younger, he already was a goof then, but now they appreciated it even more with all the seriousness of adulthood from time to time. If you were sad and got the blues, Daisuke would be knocking on your door to cheer you up. That was the kind of guy Daisuke was, a true friend in need.

All of a sudden, they heard voices echoing in the hall-way outside.

"Come on, that girl was totally checking you out!" one of them remarked rather loudly.

"No, she wasn't," the other remanded.

"She was undressing you with her eyes!" the first yelled even louder.

Now, Hikari, Willis and the rest could decipher that first voice belonged to Takeru and figured out that the second one must belong to Yamato then. That was their cue to hide themselves and surprise Yamato when he would walk through the door.

"Takeru, drop your voice a few heights," Yamato insisted. "Not your entire apartment building must know that that girl was checking me out." He death glared at his little brother.

Takeru chuckled. "You know, for a lead singer you're shy. A little too shy," he pointed out while opening his front door with his keys.

"I'm not shy," he heaved a sigh. "I'm only being _modest_."

"Whatever."

He opened the door and Yamato stepped in the apartment before Takeru while switching on the light.

The moment he switched it on, the rest jumped from their hiding place and shouted. "Surprise!"

Yamato looked perplexed. "Uh– Wha– Huh?" he stuttered.

Takeru patted him on the back. "We decided to throw you a going-away party. After all, you're a part of the gang now."

"You really mean that?"

Miyako walked over to him and linked her arm with his. "Of course, we do." Then she ambled with him towards the others.

For some reason, Yamato had this huge, cheery smile on his face. Everyone could so how pleased he truly was with those words and this gesture. He felt a bit as an outcast when he met them for the first time. Especially, since everyone talked about everything and he couldn't understand a squat about it all. But he grew to love them and understand them as well. He sure was going to miss this town and miss his newly-found friends.

While Yamato and the rest ate some of the snacks, and had a conversation about God knows what, Hikari tucked at Takeru's arm and whispered in his ear. "I need a moment to talk to you."

Then she dragged him over to his bedroom to have some privacy with him.

Once inside his bedroom, which was well decorated actually. There was a double-size bed with red sheets on them and the walls were painted in the same shade of red and white. Underneath his pretty huge window, there was his writing desk when he wrote his novels. The floor was carpeted in cream white, a slightly less white shade than the walls, but was a nice combination though.

Hikari went and sat down on his bed. Shyly, she glanced at him and patted next to her as to usher him to sit next to her. He obeyed and planted himself down on the left of her.

"Why did you want to speak with me, Kar?"

"Well, euh–…," she paused nervously and traced her index finger over the wrinkles of his sheet. "I– I got to admit something very important," she finally hurtled out.

"I'm all ears."

She swallowed a large clump in her throat and doubted if she would really go through with this. Scared to death she was right now. What if he didn't feel the same way? What if he laughed at her right in front of her face? She wouldn't be able to take it on. Nonetheless, she had to confess her love for him. It was better this way, because then she would finally know where she stood with him.

"I'll be straight with you, Takeru." She looked at him right in his eyes, caramel brown on sky blue. "I like you–… a lot. I like you like you."

He smiled. "Kari, what are you babbling about?"

She sighed fatigued. "I _love_ you." She caught a glimpse of his blanching at this revelation. And it made her even more anxious. "For quite a time, I have these feelings for you. Okay, for a very long time actually," she paused again. "You remember Arata, don't you?"

"Yeah…," he replied lamely.

"It's since then that I've known. That was the reason why he broke up with me. He sensed –with good reason – that I was in love with you, meaning not him."

"But–…"

"I suppose you think I'm some kind of a freak now."

"No, I don't think that." He stroke her cheek affectionately with the back of his hand. "I would never think that."

"Thanks for being such a good friend, Takeru," she whispered, leaning forward so her forehead rested on his. A genuine smile twisted on her lips.

"A _friend_, huh?" he asked with a smidge of venom in his voice. "Is that what I remain after all that _crap_?"

"What are you implying?" she asked shakily.

"Oh come on, don't play all innocent with me." He pushed her off him and stood up from the bed. "I'm not stupid, Hikari."

She stood up as well and reached out her hand for him, but he just backed away. "I don't know what's troubling you, but I guess you have misinterpreted me," she commented, trying to sooth his tempting anger. Seriously, this was out of Takeru's character to speak with venom in his voice and getting angry. But she knew him inside and out. They had been best friends long enough to know each other's quirks, pet peeves and all that other stuff.

"Oh no, I comprehended exactly what you said."

"Takeru, please tell me what's going on?"

He grunted. "I saw you that day."

"_What_ day?" she questioned getting a bit irritated, because she couldn't fathom what he was implying.

"You and Willis," he pinpointed. "You guys kissing."

Her eyes widened at his remark, but he didn't give any notice and simply continued. "I saw everything, Kari. I saw the way he kissed you and I saw that you didn't stop him in any way possible! And now, here you are telling me that you love _me_!" he barked at her, his voice increasing with every word.

"Takeru, please keep it down," she insisted, tears springing in her eyes and gripping his arms.

"Don't tell me what to do!" he snapped and pushed her away from him once again. "I don't have to take orders from anyone, especially _you_! Why don't you go run of to your precious Willis and cry on his shoulder!"

"Don't act like this, I want you not him," she spoke hoarsely on a barely audible tone.

His voice finally dropped down. "I believe you don't know what you want," he hissed through gritted teeth. "You know, on my way here I've been contemplating what I should do with my own feelings for you."

"Wait, you love me too?" she asked, some salty droplets already rolling down her cheeks.

"Yes–…I _did_, not anymore."

She hung her head out of sorrowness when she heard those words.

"At least I know what I want, Hikari. And I want you gone. I don't want to see you for now." He cast his gaze away from, confirming the fact that he didn't want to see her.

Reluctantly, she walked to the door and opened it. Before she would step through it, she whirled her head around to glance at him and to say. "Goodbye, Takeru."

She closed the door behind her and leaned against the wooden structure. No longer could she hold it in, therefore she slid against the door down to her a sitting position and sobbed. She couldn't care less if Takeru would hear her from the other end of the door, but she wouldn't want to give him any more satisfaction. It was _him_ who didn't want to be with her, then so be it. She clambered her way back up to her feet and regained her composure. Once she wiped away the threatening tears, she stormed through the hall-way, inside the living room.

Everyone in there, meaning simply _everyone_, looked remorseful. They all could hear Hikari's and Takeru's unpleasant (to put it gently) conversation. They weren't fools after all, they all knew what the one felt about the other. Actually, they were saddened by it, they always believed that Hikari and Takeru somehow would wind up together. Like some fairytale.

However, it didn't end up like a fairytale.

The Yagami sibling saw the pitiful glint in their eyes. And she hated it with every fibre in her being.

"Don't– Don't look at me like that. Don't pity me, I'm fine," she attempted to reassure them, but was failing miserably. She was practically shaking, which was a huge give-away.

Miyako stepped up to her, swung an arm around the smaller girl and stroke it affectionately and caring. "Kar, we're all here for you. Tell us if you need anything, okay? It's going to be alright," she soothed.

She wiggled out of Miyako's hold and snapped. "I am doing perfectly _alright_. And I don't need any help." She cast her gaze at Yamato. "Yamato, I hope you have a lot of fun touring and I wish you success and luck. I'm so sorry but I want to go home."

Yamato smiled meekly. "It's okay, when I'm back don't be a stranger and visit me sometime."

She returned the smile half-heartedly. "I will." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked out the door.

Willis's mouth parted slightly and was still in a daze form what happened in Takeru's bedroom. Without saying anything to the rest, he sprinted after Hikari. "Hikari… wait up!"

The other remaining folks in the living room looked bewildered at Willis's sudden department and simply stared open mouth at the wide-open front door.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "O– Okay, what the–?" He peered through the door and then shut it slowly. "What the hell just occurred here?"

Ken frowned. "I don't know."

Only Miyako had a pretty good idea why on Earth Willis would fled after Hikari so abruptly, but she decided for the better to remain silent. Thus, she simply answered. "Me either."

Yamato, on the other hand, scratched the back of his head. "I don't have a clue myself," repeated the previous answers with different words. "I think I better check on Takeru. Be right back."

The others nodded quietly and watched Yamato's retrieving form towards the bedroom.

Softly, Yamato knocked on Takeru's closed bedroom door.

"Who's there?" was the silent reply coming from the other side.

"Takeru, it's me,… Yamato," he added rapidly.

"I don't want to talk to anyone. No offence tough."

"None taken, but please let me in," he pleaded, knowing that Takeru needed support and comfort right now. "Come on, bro."

"What are you going to do if I don't? Break down the door and barge in?" Takeru asked sarcastically.

Yamato chuckled inwardly. "Any means necessary just to get inside," he vented.

Hesitant at first, but Takeru opened the door anyways. "Come in."

Yamato frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Better than ever," he replied, much more convinced than Hikari a bit earlier. He truly looked fantastic. As if he was on cloud nine or something.

Getting a bit suspicious about Takeru's overly cheery mood, Yamato deepened his frown. "Are you sure? I mean– you just turned down the woman you love," he pinpointed the matter carefully.

"I know," he remanded, as if the matter wasn't crazy at all. "Otherwise I wouldn't have done tit, huh?" Takeru smirked. "You don't have to gape at me like I've gone insane or something. Oh no, I'm seeing things perfectly clear right now."

"If you say so…"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about this guy," he said, pointing at himself. "Hey, did Mimi arrive yet?"

Yamato averted his azure eyes. "No, she hasn't," he spoke sadly.

"She'll show up. After all, she's Little Miss Always Shows Up Late." He patted on Yamato's back.

Yamato closed his eyes. "I don't think she will. I sincerely doubt it."

* * *

Depressed, Mimi wandered aimlessly on the streets of Kyoto. She perfectly knew that she sometimes – okay, most of the time – tended to be a drama queen. Every time, she made a mountain out of a molehill. But not this time, she had every right to be depressed and over-dramatic. She pondered over the question that Nina told her to ask herself. 

_"Do you trust and love Yamato enough to get passed all that?" _

Well, did she?

Of course, she did. She grew to love Yamato with every fibre in her body, with her whole heart. And she truly wanted to go with him on tour. It must be so exciting to travel through Japan, giving your entire soul on that stage to a passionate crowd of fans. When she was a little girl, she had always dreamt about being a popular singer. She would stand up on her mother's expensive, glass coffee-table and grab her brush to use as a mike. Then, she sang her heart out, so loud that the entire neighbourhood could hear her sing. Her father would scream at her to stop that racket and her mother would force her off her precious coffee-table. How much they yelled and tugged her arm rather roughly, she wouldn't give any notice and simply proceed her song till the very end. She always told everyone, even complete strangers, that she would make it someday and be world's number one. But along the road of her life, she let that dream slip out of her hands and she got in touch with cooking, which she grew to love much more than singing.

Her lips upturned into a small, genuine smile.

Maybe the singing-cooking comparison was a metaphor on her love life. Maybe Yamato was the cooking part and Taichi the singing part.

Her smile faded immediately. She had to bring up Taichi into her thoughts once again. What the hell was wrong with her? It had been three fucking years since that bastard deserted her. Why was she always thinking about him, and their past relationship? It was over, he made sure of that. And still, after all those lonely years of sorrow and hurt, she kept thinking of him. She couldn't keep doing this to herself any longer.

And she wouldn't keep doing this to herself anymore.

With that thought, she headed over to the park, over to_ their _tree. Somehow the willow that was centred in the park, gave her sanctuary.

Every fantastic memory she had spent with Taichi was almost at that tree. She felt comfortable just sitting against the bole and underneath all the bend branches, which could be considered as a shelter. When she felt sad, she would go to that tree and draw some sketches, and she would feel happier in an instant, without Taichi that was.

Even after Taichi left, she would do the same thing. In the beginning it was more because she would cry there over what he had done to her and that he abandoned her. She always hoped he would come back to her and that was the main reason why she would come to the tree, because she thought he would come looking for her there first. Later on, she realised he would never return to her.

She saw the willow that was centred in the park. No one was in sight. Thus, she had all her privacy and free space to redeem with herself.

Once in front of the large willow, she descended on her knees and sat there. She glanced at the initials Taichi once carved in the bole and she caressed them with the tip of her fingers.

"Why?" she whispered to no one in particular, she just imagined that the tree was Taichi. "Why did you leave me for _her_? Wasn't I good enough? Didn't you love me?"

_I'll always love you, Mimi_. She heard his voice echo soothingly in the air.

She closed her honey-coloured eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"No–…," she whispered. "No! Leave me alone!" she shouted, covering up her ears with her hands. "I _don't_ need this anymore!"

Then, she lost all control.

She clenched her hands into fists and hit the tree several times.

"You bastard! It's all your fault! I hate you!" she kept screaming at the tree and kept punching it. "I hate you! Why did you do this to me! I never did anything to harm you in anyway! Never! Yet, you did that to me! Why! I loved you with all my heart and soul, and you just you loved me back! You liar, you big, fat, ugly liar! I HATE YOU!"

Then she lost all her might and simply fell down on the grass.

Still sobbing and shedding tears, she kept repeating. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,…"

* * *

**Flashback**

"Taichi, I waited long enough for an explanation," Mimi chided and stamped her foot impatiently. "I've waited until everyone left the party, so we could have our privacy and now, I demand you to explain that secrecy with Sora."

He heaved a sigh out of anguish and motioned her to sit down. She obliged and planted herself down on the couch. Then, he sat himself down on the coffee-table in front of her.

He grabbed her hands and covered them with his own.

"Mi," he addressed her carefully by his special reserved nickname for her. "I want you to know that I love you. Always have and always will. Nothing can change the way I feel about you."

She leaned forward and stared into his chocolate brown eyes. "Taichi, what's going on?" she asked with a bit of a shrill voice. "You're scaring me."

"Okay, here it goes–…"

It didn't come tough, he simply paused.

"Tai?"

He blinked a couple times. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to find the right words to mention this. But I can't seem to find any."

She removed one of her hands out of his grip and stroked his cheek lovingly.

"Whatever it is, honey, you can tell me," she comforted.

He retorted. "I sincerely doubt that." He closed his eyes. "Alright, I'm just going to say this how it is–… I'm leaving you."

She glared at him through half-lid eyes. "You already said that. It was _that_ that you were going to explain to me." She wriggled her other hand out of his grip and folded her arms exasperated.

Abruptly, he stood up and snapped, spitting the following words out. "Fine, you desperately want to know _why _I'm leaving you!" he paused once more, just for a mere second. "Because I slept with Sora! That's why!"

She stood up as well. "What!" Her mouth practically fell open. "You did _what_!"

He calmed down and his voice dropped a few notches. "I was drunk, so was she. Before we knew it, things got out of hand and one thing led to another…" He ran his hands through his hair. "I'm so sorry, Mi. I shouldn't have done that."

"No, you shouldn't have," she cut him shortly.

"Nothing can reason my actions."

She shook her head roughly. "No, it can't," she hissed.

"I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me someday."

She closed her eyes and sighed shaggily. "Maybe–… I don't know. But I hope it was a mistake and you love me, not her."

His face bright up immediately. "I do love you."

"Wait a second. How come you're leaving me?" she asked confused. "I don't understand why you want me to forgive you and that you're leaving me."

His happy face changed drastically and he shut his mouth.

She prodded, her eyes glaring daggers at him. "Tell me, Taichi! There's no point in lying to me."

"Because– Because Sora got pregnant," he confessed.

Shock was written all over her features. "By you?" she inquired, already knowing the answer but wanted a confirmation anyways.

He bobbed his head in affirmation.

She strangled her fingers in her hair and shrieked. "Oh my God. Oh my _fucking_ God!" She grabbed a cushion from the couch and smacked him with it real hard. "You bastard! How could you!" she screamed.

"I don't know what came over me then, Mi," he stated, hovering his arms defensively in front of his face to protect it.

"I don't care. You cheated on me and impregnated her!"

She remained hitting him roughly with the cushion. He saw his chance to stop her and took his opportunity by grabbing her by the waist and (gently) pushing her on the floor. Then, he threw the cushion away out of her reach and held her wrists.

"Mimi, please calm down," he begged her, hating it to see her like this.

She broke down in tears and struggled against his grip on her.

"Let me go," she ordered. "I don't want you touching me."

He was saddened by that last phrase (but he couldn't blame her, he could only blame himself) and reluctantly, he backed away from her while letting her loose. Slowly, he leaned with his back against the couch, examining Mimi who was lying sobbing on the floor.

"I understand if you hate me right now. Believe me, I hate myself for what I've done to you," he rattled. "I should go."

He stood up and ambled towards the door.

She realised what was happening and crawled rapidly to him before he reached his destination (meaning the door). She wrapped her arms around his one leg.

"Don't go. Don't leave after all this." She buried her face against his leg and cried against it. "Perhaps we can work things out. I don't want you to leave now. I still love you." Then, she looked up to lock her eyes with his and to try to change his mind.

He crouched down and cupped her face with his hands. "I have to go. I don't have any other choice."

"Yes, you do. You can stay with me," she blurted.

He rested his forehead against hers. "No, I need to be with Sora now and raise my child with her."

He kissed her passionately, after that he stood up again and opening the door. Before closing the door, he glanced down at Mimi one last time.

"I love you too, Mi. Nothing will change that."

Then, he was gone and left her all alone.

**End Flashback**

**

* * *

**"I hate you," she finished her repeating. 

Staggering, she rose back up to her feet and rubbed the smearing tears from her face. She unruffled her long hair and dusted off her clothes. But her eyes remained piercing at the tree.

She inhaled the fresh air slowly through her nose and breathed it all out afterwards. Then, she shook her head softly and licked her dry lips.

"I'm over you."

She began to giggle. "I'm _finally_ over you," she concluded. "I want to be with Yamato. I love him, Taichi. And he loves me."

She kissed the tip of her fingers and placed them on the initials.

"Goodbye, Yagami Taichi."

And then she left to go to Yamato.

She had to be at seven o'clock at Takeru's apartment and glancing at her watch, she noticed she hadn't much time left. Hence, she sprinted as fast as her legs could bear.

While running over to Takeru's place, all she could think about was how closed she had been towards Yamato. She probably radiated all those signals 'I still love Taichi, so back off a bit, okay?', while in fact he didn't deserve any of that.

She groaned. "I must have acted like a total bitch." She clapped a hand on her forehead. "Well, I'm not going to lose him too. I'll cry, I'll beg and I'll crawl, anything so I _won't_ lose him, even if it's the last thing I'll do."

Finally, she arrived at Takeru's place and it hit her then.

"Shit," she cursed. "The going-away party–… I should earn the title of '_worst_ girlfriend' ever."

She rang the doorbell several times violently.

"Coming! Coming, jeez," Takeru yelled.

The blond swung the door open annoyed, but his expression changed drastically when he saw Mimi standing in the door opening, huffing and puffing.

He frowned. "Meems, is everything okay?"

"It depends," she spoke, when she steadied her breathing. "Is Yamato here?"

He sighed. "You know, I love you, Meems. But I'm afraid the party we all organized for my brother, a.k.a. _you boyfriend_, is already done."

"I realised that," she hissed and stepped inside. "But is he still here?"

Takeru shook his head.

Her eyes widened. She was too late.

No!

Like aforementioned, even it was the last thing she would do, she would patch things up with him and hug him and never let him go.

Roughly, she gripped Takeru's collar and panicked. "Where is he then?"

Takeru, a bit scared and taken aback, lifted his hands up defensively and muttered. "I don't– I don't know."

"Shit," she swore again and fleeted out his apartment, without saying anything more against Takeru and leaving him behind perplexed.

She wandered (rather fast) around the streets of Kyoto once more, this time not aimlessly but with a goal. Namely, seeking Yamato.

But despite how much she wanted to, she couldn't find him anywhere.

Resisting the urge to keep searching, she gave up and decided she would go home instead. So she set her course to home this time. Depressed, she shoved her hands in her pockets and walked back to her own place. A nice, hot bath would do her some good. Although, it wouldn't help her completely. It was all her own fault after all.

If she wasn't so stupid and blind, she would have discovered sooner how much of a wonderful young man Yamato truly was. That way, she would have moved on much sooner and settled down with the blond god much faster. And then she would have been one of the luckiest girls in the world.

No scratch that last part, she would be _the_ luckiest girl in the world.

Instead of all that, she kept sulking over Taichi and passed down a great opportunity with Yamato.

Suddenly, she bumped into a tall, blue-haired man and fell flat on her behind. "Argh," she growled. Could this day get any worse!

The man washed in guilt and stuck his hand out for her to help her get on her feet again. She accepted his aid with gratitude.

"Thanks," she smiled weakly.

The stranger bit his lower lip stressfully. "I'm terribly sorry, miss. I must apologize for my clumsiness," he flushed a soft pink.

"It's okay," her smile increased and was more genuine now. "It's my fault as well. You shouldn't take all the blame."

His lips changed into a smile too. "I should introduce myself properly." He shook her hand, which he was holding and let go after the shaking. "My name is Kido Jyou."

"And I'm Tachikawa Mimi."

"Really?" he asked intrigued by her name. "Well, if I had more time, I would offer you a cup of coffee as a token of my excuses. But I'm afraid I don't," he spoke politely. "Nonetheless, it was a pleasure to meet you."

She nodded and was about to walk further to her home, until she saw a flash of a familiar person.

Was she seeing mirages now or was her mind playing games with her or did she truly spot Yamato there?

The figure squinted his eyes and dropped his luggage promptly.

"Mimi!" he exclaimed and ran up to her.

A huge, toothy smile crept on her features. "Yamato!" she called out to him. "It is you! I thought I lost you!"

He grabbed her by her waist and twirled her around. Once he set her down on the ground again, he didn't let go and kissed her full on the lips.

"Mimi, you did show up. I thought you didn't want to come with me."

She hit his arm playfully. "Of course, I want to go on tour with you," she smiled at him, her eyes locking with his. "More than anything in the world. I realise I haven't acted like such, but I do love you, Yamato. I want to be with you." She kissed him again. "And only you."

"You don't know how much happiness you brought me with those words." He gave her a little Eskimo kiss. "I love you too."

Jyou scraped his throat to gain their attention. "I hate to interrupt your precious moment, but unfortunately it's time to go."

They looked at the older man blushing furiously. Then, they let go of each other, but Yamato kept his one arm circled around her waist.

She enthused. "I'm so excited. But what about my clothes and all that?"

He kissed her temple. "We'll get a quick pit stop at your place," he assured. "I'm really glad you decided to come with me."

"You can't be more happier than me about this," she smirked, before she got in the car with him and drove away.

* * *

**End of Part One

* * *

A/N:** This isn't the ending, trust me. It is common if you begin with a prologue that you end with an epilogue, which I plan on doing. However, you could say this is the end of part one–... end of _part one_? Yes, you heard me right :) there's going to be a _part two_. Now, you're probably thinking what for dramatic scenes and twisted plots I'm going to unleash on you. But you don't have to worry! I tend to try to not write _overdramatic_ scenes and there's still going to happen a lot in part two, but only for the sake of the story. Besides, I know what I'm doing.**

* * *

**


	11. Prologue II

**Love from the Past **

**Prologue II **

* * *

After being on tour with Yamato for three whole months, Mimi finally returns to Kyoto, where a few surprises are awaiting her… AU/Romance 

**A/N:** Prologue to part two.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

**Three months later…**

* * *

Graciously, Mimi laid her hand in the warm palm of her boyfriend's, accepting his help to step out of the car. She placed her other hand above her eyes to shield them from the brightness of the sun.

The long winter had finally come to its end and spring was blooming everywhere. The trees grew leaves again, the flowers blossomed open and the welcoming spring smell spread its whiff all over the places.

It was truly the perfect time to arrive back in Kyoto after three months.

Although it felt good to be back, some part of her didn't want to return. The last three months had been amazing and splendid. She had the most wonderful adventures with her boyfriend, Yamato, on the tour of his rock band, the Wolves. Never along the way did she wish for the tour to end, but she knew it had to sometime. Like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

So here she was, Tachikawa Mimi, back home.

After abandoning her friends without proper warning. She sincerely hoped they wouldn't be too mad at her for ditching them like that. With any means necessary, she would make up for her reckless behaviour.

"Something wrong?" a voice asked, disrupting her trail of thoughts.

She glanced at Yamato standing in front of her, frowning concerned at her. A soothing smile graced her features immediately to reassure him that everything was fine.

"I'm okay." She embraced him tightly and her smile grew bigger. "Especially when I'm around you," she added truthfully.

The blond kissed her temple affectionately. "Same here."

"So, what do you want to do today?" she questioned inquisitively, shifting within the embrace that one arm hung around her shoulders.

He exhaled loudly and bit his lower lip pensively.

"Euhm–…," Yamato hummed, while tapping his index finger against his chin.

Irritated, she rolled her eyes and complained (what she did best after all). "Come on, don't start that again. You always take an awful lot of time when something has to be picked." She smirked, while playfully poking his side two times. "Now, choose!" she demanded teasingly.

"You're a very bossy person, Tachikawa Mimi."

Grinning at his comment, she replied. "Indeed I am, but you got to love me."

"And I do," he remanded, kissing her passionately.

"Aw, I love you too."

Jyou smiled at the adorable sight and cooed. "How sweet. You two lovebirds are the perfect example of true love." He dropped their bags on the ground hastily and put his hand on Yamato's shoulder. "You're a free man for now, Ishida. That is until we dive into the studios again to make a brand new album."

"I already got a few ideas, Kido."

Jyou extended his other hand for a handshake. "Good day for now, Yamato." After he shook Yamato's hand, he shook Mimi's too. "And take care of this wonderful lady. Seriously, I'm still astonished that you won her heart," he taunted jokingly.

Mimi giggled at his flattery, while Yamato scowled at the quipping from his own manager.

"At least I got a girlfriend," he retorted, smirking self-satisfied at his banter.

Jyou nodded grimly. "Thanks for pointing that matter out."

"No problem, boss."

"Well–…," Jyou opened his mouth to say something in return, but Mimi cut him of shortly by holding her hand in front of his parted lips.

"Na uh, that's enough for today. I have to stop you two before it gets out of hand… _again_."

The blue-haired man heaved a sigh defeated by the younger woman. "She's right," he shrugged casually.

"Once again," Yamato added.

The oldest of the three waved a threatening finger at the blond singer. "See, I should remind you that you need to take care of this one."

Yamato smiled. "I know and I will."

Turning back to the car, Jyou got in once more but leaved his door open to say his goodbyes. Afterwards, he slammed the car door shut and drove away to head home with the other band members.

Gently, Mimi poked Yamato in the ribs once again. "You still haven't made a decision, Ishida," she pinpointed, while folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Why don't you pick, pumpkin?"

Mimi rolled her eyes at the ridiculous nickname and sighed exasperatedly.

"Fine," she grumbled slightly. "I'll choose." She frowned at her boyfriend questioningly. "Frankly, I wonder what the hell you would do without me?"

He looked up to the sky. "Nothing, actually."

"As long as you know it." She pulled at his upper arm lightly while exclaiming. "I want to go to Apisius."

Tired of the pulling, she let him go and led the way. Grinning at her childish, yet cute behaviour he tagged along behind her. Besides, he liked the sight from there.

"Sometimes I don't get you. We're back in Kyoto after three months and the first thing you want to do, is go to your work. An odd woman you are, but I like that about you. A queer kind of charm," he told her honestly from the heart.

Mimi turned around to look him straight in the eye.

"Yama, I deserted my job for three months without any notice or warning. To tell the truth, I want to know if Osamu didn't hire another chef and can forgive me."

A tiny pause.

"And most of all, I want to know if Nina could handle by herself," she added, smirking wryly at the thought of Nina needing her help desperately.

Yamato chuckled. "I should have known that was the _real_ reason." He caught up with her and together they walked hand in hand towards Apisius.

Once there, they walked through the door of the personnel, the door located on the side of the restaurant. They walked down the hall, which connected the entrance/exit with the kitchen. The kitchen door was wide open and Mimi spotted Nina from afar. She sprinted towards the hilarious woman, with her arms spread ready to embrace her friend. Mimi startled Nina by jumping on her and almost tackling her down.

"Mimi!" Nina vented, surprised in a positive way and squinted her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing any mirage. "Wow, and to think I was beginning to believe I saw the last of you three months ago."

Mimi shook her head. "Nah, you can _never_ get rid of me. You of all people should have realised that by now."

"It's good to see you again. I missed you."

The honey-haired girl placed a hand on the right side of her chest, above her heart. "Aw, I missed you too. Especially your sarcasm."

"Where have you been all this time, girl?" Nina smacked her playfully with her towel.

"Well,… you wouldn't believe me, but I–…" She was going to finish her sentence, if Yamato wouldn't have intervened once he decided to speak.

"She went on tour with me," he answered for her.

Nina bobbed her head, while letting the last piece of information soak in. Then she glanced at Mimi. "No wonder you left without mentioning." She grimaced. "Can't blame ya."

"I know you wouldn't, but _what about_ _Osamu_?"

Hearing Osamu's name, Nina laughed. "Yeah, Osamu," she echoed.

Mimi waited impatiently for Nina to continue, but she sensed the girl paused long on purpose. Therefore Mimi gave her a nudge by waving her hand in a matter to signal her to continue.

"The deal with Osamu is that he planned, only once, to seek a new chef. But, as manipulative I can be, I convinced him that you are too good to fire. Thus, he decided to spare you and go easy on you _sweet ass_… to quote him exactly."

Immediately, Mimi's face bright up. "Really?" a sigh from relief. "Thank heavens."

Nina gave her a comforting smile. "Although he's going to give you the scolding of a lifetime once he sees you again."

"Can't wait for that," Mimi chided sarcastically.

"Well, he is out of town for today, so you're secure for now," Nina remarked. "But there are other people in the restaurant who want to give you some scolding."

Curiously, Mimi arched an eyebrow.

"Just check it out and you'll find out," Nina whispered and pushed Mimi through the door connected to the diner room for the customers. Yamato followed her suit.

At a table in the corner situated by the window, Miyako and Ken were sitting next to each other, holding each others hand affectionately, laughing and talking. Shortly, enjoying themselves. However, there was another person seated opposite to Miyako who came quite familiar to Mimi. She knew that she had seen that dark-haired (with green streaks) woman before. But she shrugged the notice away and ambled over to them together with Yamato.

Miyako's eyes grew twice their size when she spotted Mimi walking over to her. As hyper as she could get, she jumped up and ran over to Mimi to give her a big bear hug. Which, of course, awoke the attention of the rest of the customers.

"Mimi, oh my God! I missed you so much!" she practically screamed out of joy.

Mimi laughed. "I missed you too and everyone else."

"I wouldn't have survived without your phone calls and letters."

"It's not because I left you for three months that I would break all contact with you guys," Mimi spoke while they both sat down at the table, after calming down from their little scene.

"Otherwise she would have hunted you down," Ken said while pointing at Miyako, who blushed pink.

Miyako scraped her throat. "Anyways," she hissed at Ken, indicating that he should shut his trap about their conversation last night. "Mimi, I want you to meet Hasegawa Sayuri. Sayuri, this is Tachikawa Mimi and Ishida Yamato."

Sayuri flushed. "I know Mr Ishida, Miyako. But is a pleasure to meet you two."

"I don't want to sound rude or anything, but don't I know you from somewhere?" Mimi asked.

Ken took this on his part. "Sayuri works at the Ice Palace."

Abruptly, Mimi smacked her hand on the table. "I knew it! Again, don't want to be rude, but how did you guys become friends?"

"Well, through Daisuke," Sayuri pointed out, like the matter was so easy to understand. Seeing Mimi and Yamato's confusing frowns, she explained more thoroughly. "I'm dating him."

"No say," Yamato said. "Well, Daisuke is a lucky guy," he complimented Sayuri, which made Mimi glare jealous.

Suddenly, Daisuke joined the party and stood perplexed at the sight of Mimi and Yamato sitting at the table.

"Yamato! Mimi! You– you two are back!"

Mimi smiled and pulled him next to her to hug him. "Of course, I can't live without any of you guys, Dai," she whispered in his ear.

"It's good to have you back, Meems," he whispered back.

Yamato gazed around the table. "I believe we're missing two persons. Where's Hikari and my brother?"

Without answering his question, they lowered their heads sorrowfully, even Sayuri.

"Oookay, what's going here?" Mimi prodded.

Miyako exhaled sharply before replying. "You might don't know this, Meems. But on Yamato's going-away party Hikari confessed her feelings to Takeru, while she still hadn't figured out who she truly wants between Takeru and Willis. Takeru realising that, snapped at her and told her he didn't want to be with her. She ran away, Willis following her and we haven't heard of her ever since. She moved to Odaiba and that's all we know. Takeru, on the other hand, sulked for the two first weeks and then travelled to France to get some relaxation and set his mind at ease. That's all I know about them."

Yamato and Mimi let the story sink in.

"I think I should pay a quick visit to my brother," he decided for the best. "I'll say you later at your apartment, Meems." He kissed her forehead and left the restaurant to see Takeru.

"About your apartment, we need to inform you about–…," Ken started, but didn't get the chance to finish his sentence, because Mimi interrupted him abruptly.

"It's so great to say you guys, but I should go home now. I want to rest a little and unpack my stuff." She stood him and threw them a kiss before leaving them.

She was relieved when she arrived at her place, because she was tired of dragging her luggage so much around. By using her keys, she opened the door and kicked them open softly. She closed the door behind her and dropped her baggage on the floor.

For a second, she thought she heard some shuffling in the kitchen, but decided she was hearing ghosts. It couldn't be anyone since Hikari already moved out. Her apartment had been empty for the last three months.

She froze when she knew for certain she was hearing footsteps dawning in the hallway. Who the hell was in her apartment?

Then she heard a voice, which alerted her senses.

"Are you back from grocery shopping?"

Much to her horror, she saw _him_ stepping into the hallway, holding a glass of water in his hand. As surprised as she was, his hand unwrapped the glass, which fell to the floor and broke in pieces shattered on the floor.

When she found her voice again, she asked barely on an audible voice.

"_Taichi_?"

* * *


	12. Chapter Ten

**Love from the Past **

Chapter Ten

* * *

Things just had to go bad in her life, now didn't it? Just when she thought her life was finally on tracks. AU/Romance 

**A/N:** I have to say my writing style has been altered a bit, not much, but I believe it has improved for the better. Also, I plan on editing the chapters from _Prologue I_ to _Prologue II_, since I'm not completely satisfied with the writing I did. (But the problem is, _lack of time_, since all my teachers are handing out to much homework and tests.) It's still nothing compared to some authors on this site, but I guess its better than before, even though it still stinks in my opinion.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own.

* * *

Finally, Yamato came to the apartment he had grown so comfortable with, especially after staying there for such a long time to spend time with his brother. After reacquainting with his little brother, everything run so smoothly for him, like all the luck in the world was thrown into his lap. He had a special bond with Takeru again, something of which he rather would have had since the very beginning, but it turned out okay in the end. He also met the love of his life coming here in Kyoto, Mimi. At first, it had been a huge challenge of conquering the woman's heart, especially because she kept on pining over her own lost love. But that fiasco turned out wonderful in the end as well. 

He knocked several times on the front door, but he got no response from the other side, and which made him very impatient. After a few inconsiderable minutes, he knocked again, while he was already tapping his foot impatiently. He did want to see his brother desperately, since after everything he heard from Miyako what happened while he was away. A part of him was angry with himself for leaving his brother behind after what had occurred with Hikari. He perfectly knew how much Takeru loved her, and after Hikari told Takeru that she loved, he just blew her off to save his dignity. But Yamato was too caught up in his own complications with his own love life that he didn't even show any care towards Takeru's.

"Coming! Coming!"

Finally, an unfamiliar voice though called through the panelling. The thick French accent was seeping obviously through the woman's voice. It made him wonder if he was at the right place, because as far as he knew Takeru didn't know any French woman.

She opened the door, revealing herself. He observed her petite, fragile, yet well-curved shape and she had platinum-blonde hair that fell just over her shoulders, almond-formed greenish eyes that stared wide at him. For some unknown reason, though, she came quite familiar to him, like he had seen her in the past, but he couldn't lay his finger on the matter. He shrugged the notice away, because that didn't matter, he came here for Takeru and Takeru only.

"'Ello, can I 'elp you?" she asked politely, cutely cocking her head to her left.

He nodded once, confirming her question. "Is Takaishi Takeru here?" he informed, although a tad harsher than necessary. He didn't anticipate to be this rude, after all, all of this wasn't her fault.

"Ie is, shall I get 'iem for you?"

Even though Yamato didn't know the girl, he did like her already from the start. She had this vibe, this charm, he couldn't exactly explain it, but he did know that he liked it very much. Well, first impressions are always the most important to determine whether one likes a person or not.

"If it's not a bother," he remanded, a small smile tucking at his lips for realising that his brother was home, and that this girl was probably one of his friends.

"None at all." She smiled sweetly, pulling the door wider for him to step in. "Come in, you don't 'ave to wait outside." She ushered him in the hall-way, before retreating to seek Takeru.

While she left out of his sight to fetch Takeru for him, he remained waiting in the hall-way politely. He was still pondering on how to bring the touchy subject of Hikari and the past three months up as gently as possible, without Takeru erupting in anger like he always did when someone began to talk about Hikari. Ironically, Hikari was most likely the only person to know how to make that mission impossible happen.

"Yamato?" a miniature version of the lead singer of the Wolves appeared from the corner into the hall-way. There was a look of bewilderment on his face, gaping at his older brother in awe and surprise. "I can't believe three months have passed already. Man, time sure does fly."

Yamato chuckled amused. "Good to see you too."

They embraced each other in one of those big, brotherly bear hugs, patting each other's back soothingly and comforting. They stayed like that for several minutes until Yamato opened one eye and saw the previous, quite familiar blonde sighing happily at the two of them with a dreamy smile forming on her lips. Yamato frowned inquisitively at her, but she didn't notice it and merely walked back in a room from where she came from in the first place.

Softly, Yamato whispered in Takeru's ear. "One question, bro. Who's the French girl?"

Takeru broke the hug in order to gaze at Yamato funnily and directly. "Wait, are you saying you don't remember her?" he asked somewhat rhetorically.

"Am I supposed to know her?"

Confused, Takeru arched an eyebrow at his brother's unexplained amnesia. "Actually, yeah," he replied lamely and shook his head disapproving at his brother. "That's Catherine. You remember Catherine from France when we visited grandpa, don't you?"

Yamato's mouth practically fell open at the sudden revelation. "That's Catherine?! No way!"

He said that last part a little too loud, since Catherine overheard that and peeked from the room she was currently in. She frowned curiously and appalled, then she saw Yamato staring wide-eyed at her and she ambled over to the two brothers. Firmly, she put her hands on her hips, a bit taken aback at their sneaky behaviour.

"Ies something the matter?" she queried, glancing between the two brothers.

Takeru smiled wryly. "It appears Yamato didn't recognize you," he replied nonchalantly. "Can you believe that? How naughty."

A fit of giggles elicited from her pink-tainted lips and she covered her mouth with her hand elegantly. She smacked Takeru's shoulder playfully at his taunting of his brother's ignorance. "Iet can 'appen, no big deal. We 'ave all grown up so much, after all iet 'as been more than ten years I guess," she told wisely and shrugging the matter away easily. "Yamato, do you want to stay for dienner?"

He scratched the back of his head pensively. "Euh—I don't know. Perhaps Mimi is cooking something as we speak."

Sarcastically, Takeru rolled his eyes. "Always pleasing his princess. You have been solely with her for three months and I can get to see you for just a few minutes. Me, you brother, your own flesh and blood, you just shove aside for your girlfriend. I don't think I know you anymore."

"But I—I didn't mean to—," Yamato began to stammer, confused at his brother's reply and not knowing how to respond at something like that.

Thankfully for him, Catherine decided for the best to butt in. "Oh, Yamato. Takeru ies only kidding. Leave it to hiem to be over-dramatic." She smiled widely to reassure Yamato everything was fine.

As Takeru began to howl with laughter at the stupidness of his older brother, Yamato slouched his shoulders in defeat and embarrassment. He death-glared at Takeru, whose shoulders were shaking visibly from his laughter, as to oppose as a threat to Takeru in order to make him stop laughing. Which he failed miserably at. He didn't understand why though, since when Mimi did more than couple of times with him during his tour, it worked like a charm every time. Perhaps he should beg her to teach him _how_ come she could make it work and he didn't, then again, it would be a miracle if she would want to show him, otherwise she wouldn't have that little, useful trick up her sleeve anymore.

When his laughter died down, Takeru wrapped an arm around Yamato's shoulder and guided him to the kitchen, while exclaiming. "Come on, Catherine always prepares too much food for just the two of us. Meems will understand."

He sighed heavily in defeat. "Fine, but let me call her first, so she won't have to worry what's taking me so long."

"You've become such a wuss," Takeru bantered jokingly, smirking somewhat evilly (in a good, childish way) at his brother. "You know where the phone is."

Yamato gave Takeru a small nod, then they parted their ways, Takeru going to the kitchen and Yamato to the living room where the phone was installed at the wall. He picked up the phone, dialling the numbers of Mimi's and waited till she would answer. He rested his back against the wall, while he listened to the beeps, until:

"_Hey, this is the voicemail of Tachikawa Mimi. Apparently, you called on the wrong moment, since I'm not available or not at home. So, leave a message after the beep or call me back later."_

He groaned inwardly for bothering to call her, and then she wouldn't pick up. When the beep was heard, he spoke in a message on her answering machine. "Hey, Meems. It's Yamato here. Listen, I'm calling to say that I'm going to have dinner at Takeru's and I'll be home a bit later. Bye!"

He heaved a loud sigh after he put the phone back in its place. Then he headed to the kitchen where Takeru already seated himself on one of the four chairs around the rectangular table and Catherine was placing all the plates on the table, but stopped abruptly the minute he walked in.

"So, what did she say?"

Yamato scraped his throat, shoving back a chair and plopped himself down on it, not bothering to look at her when he answered. "Nothing. It was the answering machine." He placed his chin in his hands, while his elbows rested on the table, staring intently at his glass of water motionless.

He didn't comprehend why in God's name she didn't answer his call. She would have been home by now, knowing her, because if he knew her like he though he did, she wouldn't want to stay at the restaurant chatting with her friends, while having her suitcases with her there. Knowing her, she would insist on bringing her suitcases to her apartment first and resting up a bit, especially after many sleepless nights while they were on tour. He smirked slyly to himself for thinking about and reliving their nights—days too.

"Perhaps I should go and check if everything is okay," Yamato muttered, partly convincing himself for doing so, since he really wanted to stay with Takeru, even if it just was for dinner. He rose up to his feet and started to head back to Mimi's flat, but Takeru stopped him in his tracks.

He stared incredulously at his brother. "Are you serious?! I'm telling you that woman got you eating out of the palm of your hand," he remanded, shaking his head unbelievable at Yamato. "Okay, I admit Mimi is the kind of woman that can make men do whatever the hell she want, but you have to have some say in everything too. Stop being such a sissy, man."

Yamato quirked an eyebrow suspiciously and then understood why that macho-talk (which was out of character for Takeru) came from. "Like you were with Hikari?" he asked vehemently.

"I don't know what you're implying by that," he spoke, swallowing the lump of nervousness that formed largely in his throat away.

"You know damn well what I'm implying by that question."

They glared at each other, each with the same amount of seriousness and stubbornness, like they were competing over who was going to break down first and spill everything—or more like Takeru spilling everything and Yamato not going anywhere. But neither was planning on caving in and remained to stare hard at the other.

Catherine, on the contrary, was sick of the little mind games, and decided to interfere for the better. She knew the two boys since their childhood through their grandfather and hated to see them act like this towards each other. When they were all just little kids, Takeru and Yamato came over to France every summer to visit their grandfather and her, but after the divorce Yamato lived with his dad and never set foot in France again. She found it sad, because she always loved seeing them and they had so much fun together. Yet, she had never seen Yamato again till now, it was only Takeru and his mother who visited.

She dragged Takeru back to his chair and pushed him on it, afterwards she did the same with Yamato, being fed up with everything. They still didn't back down, Takeru tapping his fingers on the table rapidly and Yamato glancing around the room aimlessly in order to avoid looking at Takeru. Irately, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms defiantly at the sight of them.

"Oh mon Dieu, Yamato reste ici. Mimi, ou comment elle appelle, comprendra la situation. Et toi, Takeru, tu doit quitter ta conduite ridicule. Tout le monde sait que tu aimes Hikari, mais a trop peur de confesser," she roared aloud and turned around on her heels to proceed her cooking.

"Wow, she's being dead serious, if she rattles in French she always is." Takeru scrunched up his nose, staring at Catherine warily.

Yamato eyes widened, then he leaned forward to whisper to Takeru, since he was getting scared of the platinum-beauty. "Did you understand even the slightest thing she just rambled?"

"She said I should stop lying and avoiding the whole Hikari-situation, and you should stay here 'cause Mimi would understand," he explained matter-of-factly, while he translated it for his brother.

Yamato nodded impressively and a playful smirk was tainted on his lips.

"Why are you grinning like a big goof?" the younger one prodded curiously.

"Nothing, I—I didn't realise you were so good in French."

"Well, when I lived with mom and you with dad, we went to France quite often," he sighed heavily, not liking to talk about the times when they were separated by their parents. But they were both grown-up so it shouldn't be such a big deal anymore as it used to be. Still, it did hurt either way. "That's why I had to pick up the French lingo a bit and I studied it in high school too, since I enjoyed learning it from mom in elementary school."

"I see."

"Yeah," he replied lamely, not knowing what to say otherwise. No matter what, their separation would always be a touchy subject, even though it was in the past and they should look forward to the present and future.

Releasing them from the eerie tension and silence that hung in the air, Catherine presented them their dinner, by placing the pots on the table. She grabbed Yamato's plate first, while Takeru pouted adorably and held out his plate in front of her nose.

"Non, Takeru, guests fierst," she pointed out wisely and politely, while she spooned out the rice on Yamato's plate, simply ignoring Takeru's plate hovering in front of her. Then, just to spite him, she grabbed her own plate first to serve herself.

Takeru's mouth fell open at her teasing. "You mean girl, what about other people first?" he questioned, quirking an eyebrow like he had her cornered.

She giggled cutely. "Non, I said _guests_ fierst and I stiell believe I'm _your guest_ here," she retorted coyly, while Yamato laughed at Takeru's incredulous and pale face.

Takeru frowned annoyed at being the laughing stock and served himself instead. Catherine chuckled, while ruffling his short blond hair playfully and feeling a smidge guilty, she poured him a glass of wine—at which he brightened up immediately.

"Since Yamato held on to his end of the bargain, I suggest you do the same," she spoke to Takeru, suddenly being serious and letting go of the jokingness. She sat down herself between the two boys, who sat opposite each other, and stared at Takeru daringly with a frown.

He gazed at her open-mouthed, but shut it promptly, and simply scooped up a chunk of rice with his eating sticks. Even though he didn't look at her directly, he could feel her eyes glisten briskly at him, but he simply ignored the matter and chewed as slowly as possible to have an excuse why he didn't reply.

She deepened her frown. "Takeru!" she snarled with a threatening tone, which made him look up to her abruptly.

He swallowed loudly and visibly, his Adams apple just went up and down, as he got rid of the food in his mouth so he could speak.

"Don't make me, Cath."

Her voice softened at once. "You can't avoid iet forever. Besides, your brother deserves to know 'ow you're feeling, don't you thienk so?"

Sharply, he exhaled and let his eye-lids droop.

"Well…?"

"Fine," he muttered defeated.

"Good." She smiled proudly and stood up at once, grabbing her bowl of rice with her. "Now, I'll leave you two. If you need me, I'll be in the lieving room, eating my delicious meal while watching my television programme."

When she was out the door, Takeru stopped watching her with a special sparkle in his eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by Yamato, but he decided wisely to not question what that was all about. He needed to know what happened those three months whilst he was away, that was most important right now.

"So…," Takeru cooed, while cupping his chin and resting his elbows on the table casually. "How was your tour?" he asked eventually, as an attempt to trail off topic.

Yamato chuckled, seeing through his act. "Na-uh," he scoffed, waving his finger. "Don't try to change the subject here. You have to be confronted with this eventually and it's better sooner than later."

He scrunched up his nose irritated. "I know, I know, but does it have to be this soon?" he practically wailed.

"Yes, now spill," the eldest ordered, before eating another huge bite of his dinner.

"There's not much to say actually."

He snorted. "Bullshit. Miyako told me that she hadn't heard of you since my going-away party, save from the first two weeks but you only sulked around then, and that you left to France promptly without any mention. Don't go on and tell me that there's not much to say."

A bit taken aback, Takeru licked his sudden dry lips.

"I love her—I really do. What would you be in my place? What would you do if Mimi suddenly decided to go after Taichi in Tokyo right now?"

Yamato fumbled with his fingers and looked down at them, all of the sudden founding it very fascinating. He didn't want to think about _that_, he truly didn't. From the beginning, he was always afraid that Mimi would do that, because she didn't love him as he loved her, but he thanked heavens now she never did leave him because she did love him. He couldn't imagine his life without her now—especially after growing so close while being on tour—she made his life complete, how sappy it might sound.

"I guess I would feel like someone has ripped out my heart out of my chest and not physically being able to breath and I—I would feel lost," he thought aloud, sadness leaking in his voice.

Takeru bobbed his head, understanding everything. "Your depiction is exactly how I felt."

After a minute of pausing, Yamato asked, a bit cautious though since he knew he was treading on dangerous grounds with this. "Do you know where she is?"

"Probably moved to Odaiba, like she planned all along." He shrugged, pretending as though he didn't care anymore.

"And Willis?"

Promptly, his head snapped up at the mention of the name. His mouth was pressed in an angry, thin line, since he despised that name from every edge of his body. His muscle tensed up, but with a short, quick sigh, he relaxed his body, not bothering to get so worked up about his old friend. He didn't want to give him any satisfaction, the bastard didn't deserve it in his eyes. Willis used to be one of his best friends, but after what he had done to him, he didn't consider him even as an acquaintance anymore.

"Probably moved with her," he muttered, his voice toneless and shrugging like it didn't matter. "Don't know and don't care."

"You don't mean that you just—,"

Takeru smacked the table harshly, making every item tremble. "Yes, I do," he snarled, rubbing his hand to ease the pain that was throbbing. "Hikari can do whatever she feels like doing. It's none of my business, never was and never will be."

Yamato opened his mouth to counter that, but Takeru cut him off shortly.

"Besides, I have Catherine now. So why would I still ponder over Hikari and whatever she wants to do with her life? If she's alone in Odaiba, then fine, if she's together with Willis in Odaiba, then that's also fine. As long as she keeps _me_ out of _her_ affairs!"

The older sibling frowned inquisitively. "Wait—_you have Catherine now_? Does that mean you two are…?"

A genuine, although small, smile appeared on his face. "Yes, Cath and I are dating."

"H—How?"

"Well, when I travelled to France, solely to visit grandfather, we met at the mall and we hit it off. We spend a lot of time in France, and I mean _a lot of time_, and when it was time for me to come back to Kyoto, she decided she wanted to come with me," he explained thoroughfully. "She makes me forget all about Hikari, she's amazing," he mused while directing his gaze to the living room where she was singing along with a French song.

Yamato followed his eyes and sighed at the singing girl. "How does she feel about the Hikari-situation?" he asked carefully, not wanting to have his brother erupting again, since he looked genuinely happy whilst he gazed at Catherine.

Loudly, Takeru snorted at his brother's question. "What is she _supposed_ to feel, Yama? Of course, in the beginning she was a bit cautious and wary about my feelings for Kari, but later on I proved her that I'm completely over Kari and just wanted to be with her."

"Then," he hesitated, pondering over what to say in return. "I'm happy for you," he eventually remanded, grinning at Takeru.

"Me too," he chirped, before having another bite of his rice.

* * *

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?!" 

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, narrowing her eyes at him till they were small, threatening slits. She was challenging him to try and dare answer her question. But _this_ couldn't be real, _he_ wasn't supposed to be here, in her apartment no less! Why was he here in the first place?! He couldn't do this to her, he had no right to put her in this ridiculous, incredulous and awkward predicament.

His eyes widened, taken aback at her sassy behaviour and cursing—although he couldn't exactly blame her for acting like that. If he was in her shoes, he would react just in the same way she was doing right then.

"Well—I am—," he began to stutter, cheeks flushing from embarrassment. "I'm here to attend Miyako's and Ken's wedd—,"

Abruptly, Mimi interrupted him, with an annoyed look on her face and holding her hand up to interfere. "I didn't mean Kyoto… I meant what the _fuck_ are _you_ doing in _my_ apartment?!" she hissed furiously, already looking red in the face and closing her eyes, not being able to gaze directly at him.

He just couldn't do this to her! The nerve of the bastard! Really?! First, he slept with Sora, knocking the girl up—though she didn't care one bit about that, if it was up to her, she could rot in hell all the same—and abandoning her, because he wanted to '_help_' Sora with raising their baby. She was miserable for three, long years, and she finally found happiness again in the shape of a blond, caring an talented singer. So why, _why_, did Taichi have to show up now, after all this time?! Did he want to ruin her joy, on purpose or something?!

He scraped his throat, which suddenly went dry. "Well, when Sora and I came he—," he began to explain, but didn't get the chance since she intervened again on impulse.

"Hold your horses!" she shouted, death-glaring at him with her mouth parted slightly. She took a deep breath through her nose as an attempt to relax herself—which didn't succeed of course. "Are you telling me that _Sora_ is here as well?" she practically shrieked with a very high-pitched voice. She even emphasized the name of her formerly best friend with venom seeping through her voice.

He heaved a sigh. "Yes," he replied simply, knowing that any lie he told would be inadequate.

"Great… just great," she mumbled to herself, but loud enough for him to hear her. "Aren't you two just making my life so absolutely fabulous?" she groaned, pacing from right to left, rubbing her temples harshly and in circles with the tips of her fingers.

"Look, I'm sorry, I wish it di—,"

"Shut up!" she snarled, frowning angrily at him. "I don't want to hear anything from you! Not a peep, not a sneeze, nor yawn—just NOTHING!"

Not uttering another word to him, she trudged to the bathroom, leaving him baffled in the hall-way. She was searching through her baskets, stuffed with all kinds of medicine, but couldn't find anything to help her with this pounding, tremendous headache. It felt like something was cracking her skull open with a jackhammer, or something like that, and it was killing her bit by bit.

She didn't understand… when she woke up this morning, next to her lovely Yamato, in the king-size bed in a classy hotel in Nagoya, she was doing fine. When she drove back to Kyoto, in the large, out-stretched bus with the Wolves and her boyfriend, who was strumming his guitar just to imagine himself on stage again, she was doing fine as well. Even when she arrived back to Kyoto, together with Yamato, and went to visit her friends in her restaurant, she was doing better than just fine—she felt on top of the world. But now, na-uh, she wasn't fine or on top of the world any longer. Now she felt as if someone had pulled her roughly and without any decent excuse out of her wonderful dream and dropped her off in this horrible nightmare. And the _real _problem was… this wasn't a nightmare, it was all truly happening!

"Argh! Is this the let's-all-gang-up-on-Tachikawa-Mimi-and-make-her-the-most-miserable-woman-in-the-world?! I just want some fucking Advil!" she screamed frustrated, on the verge to pull out her caramel locks.

Feeling guilty and devastated, Taichi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can I help you?" he asked, not knowing what to do or say otherwise.

Frankly, he always knew that if he would meet Mimi again, things would get _ugly_, but he never expected that their 'reunion' would be like this. Of course, he realised and could have anticipated this kind of reaction from her—either way she had always been kind of a drama queen, and tended to blow things out of proportion, but this time it was justified. But a part of him still hoped it would be _different_ than what it was right now.

"I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to hear any kind of sound from you!" she thundered back and he heard stuff get fling across the bathroom, crashing with a loud thud against the walls and floor.

"Aargh!" she cried out, stomping her way back into the hall-way, where he was staring at her wide-eyed. She just walked past him, not sharing any eye-contact and stopped in front of her luggage, where she crouched down on one knee. She unzipped her bag clumsy and madly, making it difficult to get the zipper to the other end, and causing the bag to pound on the floor a couple of times when she pulled harshly at the metal opener.

"Why… won't it… open?" she wailed, voice cracking and replacing her angry expression with a depressed one. "Damnit!" she whimpered, burying her face in her hands to try to prevent herself from crying.

Slowly, Taichi exhaled and even knowing the fact she'd probably kill him for what he was about to do, decided to do it anyways. He stepped closer to her, carefully though since he was treading on dangerous grounds—it was like she had drawn a circle around her that he wasn't allowed to cross over—and he bend down next to her, while she had already started crying in her hands. He moved his hand closer to her shoulder, but withdrew it instantly the moment she sniffed loudly, causing her shoulder to bump up. He arbitrated for his own good—and hers too—to keep his hand anywhere near her.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry… for having to put you through all that, I mean," he sincerely told her, while leaning backwards against the wall.

She snorted, and then blew her nose with her salmon pink handkerchief. "Yeah right," she replied, a bit slurry through her sobs.

"I do mean it, Mi," he countered, gazing sympathetically at her struggling with the zipper. He grabbed her luggage away from her and opened the bag for her, then looked in it to search some Advil for her. With a half-way smile plastered on his face, he handed the tube to her, while she still sobbing, glanced at it suspiciously—her darting from him to the medicine and then back at him again. Wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, she gradually accepted his help—though with an inner battle.

"You called me _Mi_," she pointed out suddenly, before she swallowed the pill down without any aid of water.

He chuckled heartedly. "I'll always call you Mi."

She fixed her honey orbs on him piercingly. Honey clashing against his chocolate brown. The stare lasted for what seemed like an eternity to them—which a part of her liked and another part didn't. The first part hated him for after he'd done in the past (sleeping with her best friend, then deserting her) and despised that when her life was going great, he came back to destroy it all, and yet the latter part didn't mind it one bit. That itself disgusted her.

Then out of the blue, someone walked through the door without any warning ahead, causing them to break their (somewhat peculiar) stare and they both sprang apart, surprised and shocked, heartbeat increasing immensely.

"Tai! I'm back from grocery shopping! Can you help me with carryi—," she finished her question half-way, casting her gaze downwards with a inquisitive frown. She moved her brown eyes from Mimi and Taichi, both sitting down on the floor staring at each with a shocked face, and their chests heaving unsteadily and rapidly.

She scraped her throat to receive their attention. "Taichi, what's going on?" she asked confused.

He shook his head as if to come out of a daze and smiled at her genuinely. "Hey, Sora," he addressed, still having the feeling his heart would burst through his chest with the pounding it was doing right now. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing," he muttered as though he was still convincing himself of that part.

Mimi inhaled slowly, her mouth pressed into a thin, angry line. How on Earth did she tumble in such a predicament? She couldn't deal with the two of them, let alone even one of them. But to her great misfortunate she was sitting on her knees, furrowing her brow menacingly at her old lover, who was still bewildered at what was happening—or happened to be more precisely, and ex-best friend, who was suspicious of the previous scenery on her part. Even though all three of them didn't feel comfortable like this, Mimi thought she was the most uncomfortable. It was _her_ apartment after all, it was _her_ ex-boyfriend—with whom she had been madly in love with, and it was _her_ ex-best friend—whom she had trusted all the years they had been friends, but backstabbed her in the most awful and cruellest way possible. Then again, ever since Taichi and she got together, it had always been awkward between the three of them.

* * *

**Flashback**

It was such a cute sight with her head lying on his chest and her arm wrapped around his abdomen, and him leaning his chin nestled in her cinnamon-coloured hair and his one arm placed loosely on her back, in the couch their eyes focused on the television screen. However, even with her eyes staring the screen, she didn't really look _at_ it. Her honey-coloured orbs were drooped half-way and seemed to lack the perky spark she usually had, it was like she was lifeless at that time. Exasperated, she heaved a sigh, trying to gain her boyfriend's attention.

Which she succeeded at.

Taichi tore his eyes away from the sappy movie they were watching together—the usual romantic flick, where there's a boy and a girl in love but can't be together for some tragic reasons—and he frowned worried at her, while tightening his grip on her back.

"Mi, what's wrong?" he asked concerned. "You don't like the movie, because I specially picked it for you, since you like these kind of films and I—,"

Softly, she interrupted his rambling. "No, no. That isn't the problem," she muttered with a monotonous tone, still regarding the screen with a bored and tired expression.

He reached forward to grab the remote control, causing her to sit up next to him with her back leaning against the couch and she tilted her head to stare dully at the ceiling instead. He switched off the movie and the television albeit, and channelled his attention towards her, resting his elbow on the top of the cushion and placing his chin on it.

"Then what is the problem?" he prodded curiously, cupping her face with his free hand, turning it around so she was forced to look at him.

She averted her eyes immediately. "Well—it's just—It's been more than three weeks and Sora still hasn't talked to either one of us," she said rushed in one breath. "I don't understand why she can't be happy for us. Okay, I get it that it is tough for her, but—_I'm her best friend_! She is supposed to be happy for me!"

Half-heartedly, he smiled at her. "Oh, I know what you mean… She has been my best gal pal for my entire life. We've known each other ever since we lied in cradles, but now I don't think I even know her anymore."

Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall, but they didn't come though 'cause she was forcing herself to prevent her from crying. Taichi noticed this—it wasn't so hard not to—and he pulled her into a reassuring hug, letting her sob on his chest. He hated everything for the moment. He hated to see Mimi this sad, it was not in her character to be so depressed, she was usually the one to cheer all of them up. And Sora, well, she was being the most difficult of all. He could relate to the fact that she was probably heart-broken, but that didn't mean she had to break all contact with the two of them. She was being so stubborn, avoiding them at school, not sharing one glance, not picking up the damn phone if he or Mimi called, and that wasn't normal for her. She was the mother of the group, always doing the best she could to prevent the group to fall apart, but for the moment she was causing the rapture within their gang.

Everyone was forced to choose sides. Of course, he and Mimi stuck together, and Hikari followed him (with explainable difficulty since she regarded Sora as her big sister), but Takeru and Koushirou didn't know who to choose, so they stayed neutral, which was hard on its own. Especially, since Sora would talk badly and nasty over Mimi and Taichi, and Mimi and Taichi would keep asking how Sora was holding up and if she had forgiven them yet—to which was weird to respond the truth.

This charade had been going on for more than three weeks now.

Suddenly, they heard the door being unlocked and with loud squeaking, someone entered Taichi's home. They both jerked their heads up in order to see who was stepping inside. Yagami Hikari walked through the door, slipping her shoes off in the orderly fashion, and when she met their gazes, her eyes widened from shock.

"Taichi! Mimi!" she giggled embarrassedly. "What are you two doing here?"

Sarcastically, Taichi rolled his eyes to the back of his head and responded bitterly. "Jeez, I wonder… maybe due to the fact that we wanted some time alone, since mom and dad are visiting grandma, and you are—or more like _were_ now I guess, going to Takeru."

"Right," she replied chirpily, scrunching up her nose, making it perfectly clear she wasn't so pleased with the situation.

Mimi saw through it and smirked slyly at the younger girl, who was trailing circles in the burgundy carpet. "Kari, if you have Takeru there with you, we can leave of you want to," she told.

At those words, Hikari's cheeked flushed scarlet and she was so embarrassed she just wanted to melt away into a small pool. Frankly, Hikari was that kind of person who was always modest, polite and Über-friendly. It was like she was the embodiment of the Light, filled with pure innocence. Therefore, Hikari found it so difficult to handle such implications as Mimi's, because she simply was too timid to deal with it or even speak about it. And for Goodness' sake, she was like thirteen years old, she was way too young to even think about doing such things in the first place!

"Uh—No," she promptly countered, her face resembling a perfectly healthy, red apple. "That's not—Never mind," she sighed defeated, way too shy to even defend her honour. "I'll just leave you two alone, I'll se—,"

But another female voice intervened, trudging through the door, which Hikari had left open unknowingly. "What do you want to watch first: _Shakespeare in Love_ or _The Notebook_? Personally, I prefer _The Notebo_—," she stopped mid-sentence, eyeing Hikari warily, whose mouth had parted slightly and shock was written all over her face. "Okay, Kar, what's the matter?"

But Hikari didn't need to answer her question, because she found out on herself by a mere glance at the living room and the people who were sitting cosy and lovely in the couch. Her heart just sank to the bottom within less than a second because of the sight. She opened her mouth, but closed it abruptly and pressing her lips in an angry, thin line and shot a glare at Hikari, who was mouthing 'sorry' at her.

Sora shook her head and turned on her heels to walk away from it all, but Hikari stopped her in time by grabbing her arm and pulling her back inside. She pushed the larger girl towards Taichi and Mimi who were gaping at the—somewhat pleasant for them, since this would be there opportunity to patch things up—surprise. Sora struggled, but lost any way since she didn't really have the willpower to do anything at all. (If she did have the willpower, she would have won against Hikari.)

"Hikari! You told me we would be alone!" she screeched, hating this awkward situation more and more by the second.

Hikari exhaled. "I thought we would have been," she explained matter-of-factly, while going back to close the door, leaving Sora who probably wouldn't run away. "You know I won't lie to you. I didn't have any idea Taichi would be home, but since he is, I believe you three should make it up."

There was a sparkle of hope twinkling in Mimi's eyes. She smiled half-way at Sora, who was looking out the window with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her lips formed into a furious pout. Mimi didn't recognize Sora like this, the red-head was always the most mature (together with Hikari, of course) of their little group and she was always the one with a genuine smile plastered on her face, even if things were going badly for her, she would smile anyway just to make someone else happy instead. But _this_—this fury wasn't her. Mimi could only realise they had upset Sora terribly if she was this shook up or maybe she didn't realise Sora was _so_ madly in love with Taichi.

"I would like that," Mimi said quietly, somehow unable to find her voice.

Taichi swallowed the nervous lump down his throat. "Me too," he consented.

Proudly, Hikari placed her hands on her hips and smiled smugly of her good deed once again. She always loved helping people, she was always the light in the dark to guide someone who had lost his way. Everybody admired that special skill of hers and envied it too.

"Then it's settled," she cooed. "I'll be at Takeru's place of anyone needs me." She gave a reassuring nod in Taichi's direction and a wink at Sora when she passed the angry girl. Then off she went, leaving a frowned Sora stranded alone with Taichi and Mimi, and closed the door with a loud bam.

"So, how have you been?" Taichi asked lamely, but received an elbow in the rib by Mimi for his rude and improper question. "Ouch!" He rubbed the sore spot, sticking his tongue out childishly at Mimi who was throwing him the 'look'. Sora just deepened her frown at him, but Mimi deliberately ignored it and Taichi simply didn't notice it.

"Ignore him," Mimi said wisely and looked genuinely concerned at Sora. "I think we need to talk about this."

Sora scraped her dry throat nervously and shoved her hands in her pockets, since she didn't know what else to do with them. "Fine," she spoke shortly, darting her mahogany eyes across the room, not being able to look at them. "If you want to talk, then talk!"

Mimi sighed heavily at her snappy reply, but tried to shrug it away—although it was hard. She stood up from the couch, walking carefully at the older girl since she was treading on dangerous grounds with the easily exploding Sora. When she stood a couple of steps away from her, she stayed put in her place and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear anxiously. She wanted to talk, but she didn't really know what to drop. This was a complicated matter after all and she didn't want to lose her dear friend permanently because she would have mentioned the wrong thing. It already felt like she'd lost Sora, but she wanted to gain her trust back, even if it was the last thing she did.

"Sor, I just want you to know that I'm really sorry for everything that happened and I don't—," she began to tell soothingly.

Sora interrupted. "I know that, Meems and despite my rude behaviour I don't hate you or Taichi. But I—I'm—Everything is just going wrong lately and I can't deal with it."

"You can tell us," Taichi intervened comfortingly. "Perhaps we can help you."

"No," she answered, her voice cracking. "You can't help me, because you two are a part of all my problems now. Believe me, I will never hate you two, but for now… I just hate the sight of you two together."

"What are you implying, Sor?" Taichi asked confused at her explanation.

Sora rubbed her eyes harshly to wipe away the surfacing tears. "I'm saying that I can't be your friend for the time being," she replied sadly and earnestly. "I need to go now." She whirled around and headed for the door, but Mimi sprinted towards her and grabbed her shoulders to stop her.

"Wait! You can't leave!" she whimpered.

"Yes, I can."

"I won't allow it, Sora."

She groaned inwardly. "You have to, Meems, things are too awkward now."

"Things don't have to be awkward. It can all turn back to the way we used to be."

Sora pushed Mimi out of her way and stared deep into her eyes. "I hate to say it, but things will always be awkward between the three of us from now on." And that being out in the open, Sora inhaled sharply, and walked away out the door and out of their sight.

**End Flashback**

* * *

She didn't want to believe it then, but Sora was telling the truth—the horrible truth, but it still remained the truth. It had always been awkward between the three of them since then. Sora barely talked to them in the beginning, but became their good trustworthy friend again after a while, even though their still hung tension in the air. (Koushirou, Takeru and Hikari were glad anyways since they didn't have to pick sides again.) It was pretty obvious Sora was still in love with Taichi herself, but kept it bottled up just for Mimi's (and Taichi's) sake. Mimi felt bad about causing Sora so much heartache then, but now—now she felt so stupid for being so stupid then, now she would never feel bad for Sora ever again. 

She felt a pang of hurt and sadness strike her in the heart when she observed Taichi rising up to his feet and amble towards Sora to hold her hands. She noticed the way how he was caressing her bronze flesh with his thumbs soothingly. And it made her sick to her stomach—how could she still feel sad about the two of them together, even after all these years?! She guessed the tables have turned for her and Sora, now she was the one who felt like the third wheel between the three of them.

Sora yanked her hands out of his soft grip. "How am I supposed to believe that?" she frowned irately, and her eyes moved from Taichi to Mimi and back to Taichi again. "You two seemed so comfortable on the floor there to me," she stated like she knew it for certain.

Groaning, Mimi stood up and ran a hand through her hair very annoyed by the complicated situation. (It still felt like a nightmare than reality to her.) She dusted off the imaginary dirt of her clothes as a distraction to try to hold back her anger and frustration.

"Look, you don't need to worry," Mimi spoke with a sugary voice, but the venom was leaking. "I will never get _comfortable_ with either one of you two! After what you two did to me! NEVER!" she screamed at the top of her lungs and stormed out the door, leaving Taichi and Sora behind, both feeling guilt sink to the pit of their stomach.

After a second or two Mimi returned, slamming the door furiously with all her strength, so they would _hear_ she came back. "Why should I leave?!" she asked rhetorically, looking as red as a tomato. "It's _my_ apartment! You two leave!"

"But Mimi—,"

Mimi pointed a wavering finger at him, knitting her eyebrows together madly. "No buts, Taichi," she interrupted him harshly. "I just want to be in my apartment, all by myself, without the presence of _you_."

Fatigued and slightly hurt by her comment, he sighed, whilst Sora butted in on the conversation. "Tai was about to say we can't leave either."

"What the hell do you mean by _that_?" she hissed venomously.

"Do you want the short version?" Taichi asked jokingly, but she threw him a death glare making it perfectly clear it was no time to kid around, so he decided to himself that she would prefer the short version anyways. He ran a hand through his messy blond hair and proceeded more seriously this time. "Well, first of all, we received an invitation to Miyako's and Ken's wedding. So, when we got here two weeks ago, there were complicated arrangements to find a place to sleep for everyone. Takeru won't talk to anyone. Daisuke is staying at his new girlfriend's flat, who doesn't have a spare room. So we all know where Dai is _really_ sleeping," he muttered chuckling. But the two women just arched an eyebrow at him, so he continued his story. "Well, Koushirou and Kasumi are staying with Iori, so are the parents of Ken. Miyako's and Ken's apartment is crammed too with Miyako's parents." Then he stopped to shudder visibly at the thought of the purple-haired's parents. "Thus, Miyako suggested that Sora and I crashed here for a while, since you were away for three months."

Slowly, Mimi bobbed her head to let every word sink in. She had to say that she had difficulty swallowing it all. How on Earth could Miyako do this to her?! How could the thought of letting Sora and Taichi (of all people in their gang!) sleep in her apartment without asking her permission even occurred to her mind? Okay, Miyako was a smidge of crazy (and that was put nicely), but suggesting that to them was just downright nuts! She should have known Mimi would never ever allow it in the first place.

"Mimi?!"

"Uh. Wha?" she mumbled, jumping out of her reverie.

"You zoned out there for a minute," Sora said on her recognizable motherly tone.

Taichi smiled half-way, pleading with his big puppy dog eyes. "So, what do you say?" he asked hopeful.

"Say what to what?" Mimi queried, completely confused, guessing she missed an important question when she was lost in her trail of thoughts.

"If we could stay in your apartment till after the wedding?" Sora stated, more like a question though.

Cautiously and taken aback, Mimi darted her eyes away from the two and took a step backwards so she could lean against the wall. Suddenly, she felt light-headed and that she could faint any second now. Why did this all still felt like a freakishly, horrible nightmare?

She finally found her voice to speak again, but it was very hoarse. "I don't know about this," she muttered, feeling very lost and alone right now. She was so confused about the fact whether or not she should wake up—or could, that was. "I can't do that," she arbitrated at last.

"I see," Sora uttered disappointed, gazing down at her feet.

But Taichi wouldn't give up so quickly and soon. "Please, _Mi_," he begged, using her special nickname, causing both Mimi's and Sora's head jerk up and look at him bewildered. He didn't notice though. "I know this must be tough on you after what we did to you. It was very inhuman and very backstabbing, and we never intended to let it happen. We never wanted to hurt you. And I completely understand if you hate our guts, but… But we got no other place to go."

Pensively, Mimi bit her lower lip. "What about a hotel or something?" she inquired simply, as though the solution was _that_ easy.

Sora shook her head softly, still distracted by Taichi's speech—more likely that he used that special nickname again. "No, we've tried, but their all booked."

"I don't know about this." She scrunched up her nose, still considering her options.

"Please, Mi," he pleaded with a whisper, taking a few steps closer to her and without proper thinking ahead, covering her hands with his. "If it's not for us, then do it for Miyako and Ken."

She sighed shortly, looking deep in his eyes, who were begging her like a cute little dog to say yes. She couldn't quite pinpoint the matter, but she actually enjoyed the warm, soft touch of his hands on hers, but she slapped herself mentally for it, because she shouldn't revel in the moment. How she detested this—especially for what she was about to say.

She groaned audibly. "Fine," she whispered, still convincing herself on it.

Taichi smirked warmly at her. "Thanks, Mi."

Harshly, Sora swallowed the lump of sadness in throat away. She felt like she was invincible now. Didn't Taichi acknowledged her presence anymore? She was standing right there, she wasn't so stupid to not notice the way he entangled his hands with Mimi's, the way he smiled at her and the way he spoke out his own made-up nickname for her! But she covered up it nonetheless.

"Yeah, thanks," she managed to utter, but frowned disapprovingly at Taichi and Mimi.

Noticing _that_, Mimi withdrew her hands, a blush tingling on her cheeks. God, she already regretted her answer now. This was going to be so awkward, but she couldn't turn her back on them, like they did with her in the past—she wasn't that kind of person.

Sora, feeling a bit relieved by the fact they weren't holding hands anymore, upturned her lips into a more genuine smile. "Okay, So how about dinner, huh? I'll cook," she said cheeringly.

Mimi scowled and nodded to herself, because she was already getting uncomfortable by Sora being so causal. Things just had to go bad in her life, now didn't it? Just when she thought her life was finally on tracks.

Then the door swung open, revealing a panting Yamato at the entrance. "Sorry I'm late, Meems, but I had dinner with Takeru and—," he stopped mid-sentence, eyes widened. "Meems, who are they?" he asked ignorant, squinting his azure eyes at her 'guests'.

Okay, at this rate her life would never get on tracks ever again!

She giggled nervously with a weird, forced smile on her face. "Yamato, meet Sora and Taichi," she introduced them, looking like she could vomit anytime now.

Sniffing, Yamato bobbed his head, staring menacingly. "_Taichi_, huh?"

"Uhu," she replied, her legs wobbling and a devastated look twisted on her features.

Yes, she knew for certain her life would be a living hell right now.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, it's good to be back! I have to say that from now on, their will be rivalry between Yamato and Taichi, since the triangle has officially started :s Guess you'll have to stick to the end to see who wins, huh?

* * *


End file.
